Sadist vs Trickster
by GeishaXnoXHimitsu
Summary: Kinosaki, Kyoru is... sadistic and cunning. A new transfer student at Rikkai Dai Fuzoku brings Sanada's cousin to a new school with some... nuisances, namely Niou. Sadist and Trickster go head to head in a little game of emotions as they go through school. Will they end up together? Originally by SavageTrickster
1. Chapter 1

Sadist vs. Trickster

Niou, Masaharu

**_Writer's Notes:_**

**_This story was originally written by SavageTrickster. She decided to discontinue the story and I adopted it. I hope that my writing style will still make it enjoyable for you all to read. _**

**_The first 17 Chapters were written by SavageTrickster, and I will keep them as they are because they are SavageTrickster's hard work.  
_**

Chapter One  
"Eh…Looks like we're here, Kyoru…Ready for your first day here?" A voice drawled huskily into the girl's ear as its hand stroke her thigh in a rhythmic manner.  
Looking out at the school building through the window of the limo, Kinosaki Kyoru sighed and turned back to face the speaker.  
"Oshitari …Would you please stop doing that?" The girl glared pointedly at the hand that was still stroking her thigh, before snapping her head up to look at the handsome blue-haired genius, Oshitari Yuushi.  
When the genius just smirked at her and continued his ministration, Kyoru sighed and turned to the person occupying the seat opposite her.  
"Keigo…Would you kindly save your best friend from getting molested by your regular?"  
Atobe Keigo, who was reading a sports magazine, looked up and sighed. Snapping the magazine close, he threw it aside and folded his arms across his chest.  
"Oshitari. Keep your hands to yourself. Or else Ore-sama will add more to your laps when we get back."  
The genius beside Kyoru sighed in resignation and withdrew his hand resting an arm across her shoulder.  
"Thank you, Oshitari.…" Kyoru smiled gratefully at him before turning back to Atobe.  
"Keigo, you know…you two seriously shouldn't take the trouble just to escort me from the airport to my new school. I could have just taken a cab here."  
"Anything for you, Kyoru." Atobe smiled at her before shooting Yuushi a glare of annoyance and continued. "…And well, it seems that Oshitari doesn't mind either since he invited himself here, even when Ore-sama clearly said 'no'."  
Kyoru cocked an eyebrow at the smirking genius before snapping her head back at Atobe with a questioning look.  
"If you said 'no', what did he do to make you finally agree, hmm?"  
Atobe narrowed his eyes at the still smirking genius.  
"Well…He….did something….despicable to Ore-sama…"

-Flashback-  
"Oshitari, Ore-sama said 'no'. Go back to practice; Ore-sama will go fetch her myself." A frowning Atobe with arms folded across his chest, sighed in frustration at the genius and the red-headed acrobatic player which was whining extremely loudly beside him, into his poor ear.  
"Atobe let me go too."  
"No.' Atobe snapped back before turning to the red head.  
"Gakuto! Stop pulling Ore-sama's shirt!" He growled and snapped his finger. "Kabaji, take him away."  
The said boy responded with 'Usu' before throwing the protesting red head over his shoulder and stalked away towards the courts. "Buchou!~"  
Ignoring the pleas of the acrobatic player, Atobe turned away from the retreating back of Kabaji to return to the argument.  
"As Ore-sama was saying, Ore-sama will go alone."  
"Ato-"  
'No."  
"Atobe…" The genius held up a hand just when Atobe was going to interrupt and continued, "….Let me go or else…" Yuushi chuckled darkly before pulling out his blackmail material.  
It was photograph of eight years old Atobe Keigo, or more like eight years old Atobe Keigo with many bald patches on his head.  
Yuushi smirked when his Buchou widened his eyes in shock at the photograph.  
"H-How did you get that?"  
"It was a birthday present from Kyoru…like it?" The genius smirked with a glint of amusement in his eyes.  
Atobe mentally face-palmed himself. Who else would give this kind of thing to Oshitari Yuushi? Of course, who other than his sadistic and blackmailer of a best friend, Kinosaki Kyoru…..The genius's partner in crime.  
His face fell into a face of grimace as Atobe stared at the photo in disgust.  
Waving the photo at his Buchou's face, his smirk widened. "You know…if you still refuse to let me come along….I will maybe…Publish this in the school newspaper?...Imagine what the headline will be like…. "EIGHT YEARS OLD HAIRSTYLIST, ATOBE KEIGO?"….? Or I can send copies to everyone in Hyotei …hmm and maybe to the other schools too…?" Yuushi chuckled as he watched his Buchou's face of grimace changed into a face of horror.  
H-how did he know about that incident….? It must be that girl again!...If Oshitari did all those, then Ore-sama's DOOMED!  
When Atobe sighed in resignation, another chuckle emitted from the genius. He knew he had won.  
"Alright! Fine, come if you want. Now…give that back to Ore-sama!"  
"Good choice, Buchou. And…sorry, I can't give you this since it's my birthday present…." Yuushi glanced at the photo before holding it up at Atobe. "….Don't you look so cute here…" He wagged his eyebrows at his Buchou as he carefully slotted it back into his shorts pocket.  
He immediately regretted teasing his Buchou when Atobe gritted his teeth in annoyance and snarled.  
"100 laps around the court when we get back!...Now, let's go, don't waste Ore-sama's precious time!"  
Yuushi only sighed and shrugged as he trailed after his Buchou to the limo.  
-End of Flashback-

"Good job, Oshitari. That was sweet!" Kyoru snorted in laughter as she punched the chuckling genius on the arm.  
Atobe stared dumbfounded at his best friend and sighed.  
"You were supposed to help Ore-sama reprimand him for that despicable act, not praise him for it!"  
Kyoru poked out her tongue childishly at the fuming captain and smirked, turning back to Yuushi.  
"You used that photo? Nice. I've got more, I'll pass them to you later."  
Yuushi returned the smirk. "Oh? Good. I'll exchange them with my new ones."  
The girl grinned and gave a curt nod. "Deal."  
Atobe shook his head and shoot them a look of annoyance.  
"Oi! You two…Don't talk as though Ore-sama's not here! You two can really give Ore-sama a big headache…." The captain sighed and turned to the girl. "And by the way...why did your dad ask you to study here again?"  
Kyoru shrugged, playing with her red locks. "I'm not sure, he didn't really tell me why. But he did say something about Gen-chan."  
"Gen-chan?" Yuushi raised an eyebrow at her.  
"Who she meant was Sanada Genichiroh."  
"Sanada-san? What does her studying here got anything to do with him?"  
"Gen-chan's my cousin."  
"Oh? Sanada-san….is your cousin?" Yuushi widened his eyes in surprise.  
Kyoru nodded in confirmation and turned back to Atobe.  
"I think I should get going."  
"Alright. Ore-sama will come and fetch you once your school ends…..and you can always transfer back to Hyotei if you want, Ore-sama will arrange your transfer for you. Oh and send your cousin Ore-sama's greetings… " Atobe smirked, leaning forward with arms resting on his laps.  
"Yeah, yeah… Thanks, Keigo. Then I'll be going now. Bye Keigo… Bye Oshitari…." With a peck on her best friend's cheek, Kyoru waved and pushed opened the car door.  
Then a tug on her arm stopped her from stepping out. Turning back to see that it was Yuushi, she raised an eyebrow at him.  
A grin broke across the genius's face as his index finger tapped on his left side of his cheek in a rhythmic manner. "Kyoru…You forgot something…."  
Her raised eyebrow shot even higher at him in question. "What did I forget…?"  
His grin widened. "Of course…You forgot to give me a goodbye kiss on my cheek…Not fair, Atobe got one and I didn't. Now, give it over here."  
Atobe who was watching, shook his head and shot his regular an incredulous look.  
Kyoru stared at the waiting genius for a moment before bending over to grant his request. "Happy…?"  
A smirk cracked across the genius's face responded in return. Kyoru narrowed her eyes at her partner-in-crime and sighed.  
"I've got to go…Oshitari…See ya…. Oh yeah…Remember our deal!" Ignoring the protest of her best friend at the mention of their deal, she returned the smirk before scooting towards the door.  
Stepping out, she waved at the two as the limo started its engine and drove off. Watching as the limo disappear into a corner, she sighed and turned to the school building behind her, Rikkaidai Junior High. She glanced around at the empty school compound and sighed again. Stepping forward, she strolled her way towards the building.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the air-conditioned general office. The receptionist glanced up and smiled welcomingly at her as Kyoru stood in front of the counter.  
"Excuse me. I'm Kinosaki Kyoru, and I'm here to enroll."  
Gazing at her computer screen, the receptionist said "Ah, there you are. Kinosaki Kyoru, third year."  
Switching her gaze back to Kyoru, she smiled as she handed her a registration form.  
"Welcome to Rikkaidai Junior High, Kinosaki. I hope you will enjoy your time here."

* * *

_**I apologize to SavageTrickster about the great delay.**_

_**Things got really crazy with school and commitments that I have been held to for a very long time...**_

_**I plan on not changing the first 17 chapters because it is SavageTrickster's work. It would be disrespectful of me to ever think about it.**_

_**-GeishaXnoXHimitsu**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Tapping her fingers against the cool surface of the counter in a rhythmic manner, Kyoru looked around, taking in every detail of the general office, while waiting for the receptionist to return.  
The office was not as big as the one back in Hyotei…but then again, Hyotei being Hyotei, almost everything there are always in an exaggerating size or quantity…So it cannot really be compared to Hyotei's. For a normal school, unlike that exaggerating Hyotei, It was pretty spacious, but other than that, it was just another typical school general office. Kyoru that was done looking at the details noted that it was already 11:56 as she glanced up at the clock that was hung onto the pillar beside the counter.  
Flicking her eyes away from it, she averted them to a trophy cabinet that stood at the corner. Studying the trophies, her eyes fixed on the few that had caught her interest.  
Tennis… huh. Hn.  
Adjusting the straps of her black tennis bag which hung on her shoulders, Kyoru strolled towards to the cabinet to take a closer look. Pressing her face against the glass, her pupils moved across each of the trophies.  
"Kantou Regional 2001….Kantou Regional 2005…Kantou Regional 2006…Kantou Regional 2007….Kanagawa District Preliminary…Nationals 2006….Nationals 2007…."  
Kyoru widened her eyes in awe as she continued studying the trophies that was further down the cabinet and whistled.  
Wow. They sure won in lots of tournaments, huh. I know Gen-chan's one of the regulars….Hmm…I wonder what are the other regulars like. Lots of strong players…huh. Good, looks like studying here might not be bad thing. They-  
Her thoughts were then disrupted by a growing sound of 'click-clack' against the floor, getting louder and louder by the minute. Spinning around, she watched the receptionist exiting a room. Heels hitting against concrete floor, she strolled towards the counter, with papers held in her hands.  
Kyoru started towards when the receptionist got behind the counter. Sliding a piece of paper across the surface of the countertop towards her, the receptionist spoke.  
"Here is your timetable…." Another paper slid towards Kyoru. "…and here is you Club Registration form. Only after you chose and successfully enter a club, you are to fill this form up and submit it back to me. So keep this with you until then."  
The reception took a glance at Kyoru and smiled up at her before she continued.  
"As an exception, you are allowed to not wear uniforms for today. But starting from tomorrow onwards, outside clothes are strictly not allowed to be worn during school, so please purchase your uniforms at the bookstore…It's in the cafeteria. If there's nothing else, please head to your classroom…just use the floor plan at the back of your timetable, then finding your way there shouldn't be a problem. I would like to wish you all the best for this year, good luck."  
Kyoru nodded and smiled. "Thank you….Oh, wait. May I know where the toilet is?"

Staring back at the red-haired girl in the full length mirror, Kyoru pulled her hair into a ponytail with forceful jerks of the comb, separating the knots with her fingers as the comb pulled at her scalp. She sighed, tugging at the fabric that stuck onto her sweaty back. Done putting her hair up in a high ponytail, her arms fell onto her sides as she studied her reflection. A Kyoru clad in a white Abercrombie & Fitch hooded shirt with rolled-up long sleeves and a pair of dark brown Levi's shorts that reached down to her knees, and a pair of Converse black sneakers, stood in the mirror.  
Glancing from head to toes, Kyoru nodded her head satisfyingly at the mirror and she gave a last brush on her side bangs with the comb clutched in her hand before picking up her tennis bag. Swinging it onto her shoulder, she pulled open the toilet door and stepped out into the deserted hallway.  
Pulling out the timetable of her pocket, she studied its content.  
Class: 3-B  
0845 - Homeroom [Watanabe Ichiyo]  
0930 – Advanced Mathematics [Watanabe Ichiyo]  
1015 - Biology [Tsukusa Kenji]  
1100 - Break  
1145 - World Geography and Cultures [Furanomi Kuyosuke]  
1125- Music [Ciel Blancbaston]  
1205- World History [Hakuzari Kusabe]  
1245 - World History [Hakuzari Kusabe]  
0125 – End  
Class 3-B? Where is that? How am I suppose to...Oh yeah, the floor plan.  
Flipping over to the other side of the paper, she studied the content. Sighing, she gave it a last glance before slotting it back into her pocket.  
Alright, Class 3-B. Here I come.

"Stalin used –pop- the 'Rule of –pop- Terror' –pop- to strike fear –pop- into..." The chalk clutched in the teacher's hand snapped into two as he spun away from the board to face the class. "...MARUI BUNTA! WOULD YOU STOP POPPING THAT GUM? SPIT THAT OUT NOW!"  
The said boy stared back at the fuming teacher with a bored look. "But... sir... I'm not done chewing yet. Let me get done chewing first, and then I'll spit it out, sounds good to you...?"His classmates that were plopped half-dead on their desks from the long hours of school, perked up at this and burst into laughter as they watched the teacher's face turned red with anger.  
Marui Bunta ran a hand through his red hair as he sighed and leaned back onto his chair as laughter came from his classmates around him. Raising an eyebrow at the now spluttering teacher, he continued chewing on his gum, watching in anticipation for the teacher to start yelling.  
"Y-You...MARUI BUN-"  
Marui unfazed by the outburst glanced over to the door where a knock sounded from. He then averted his attention back to the teacher with a raised eyebrow, watching in amusement as the teacher took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. When the teacher responded with a 'Come in', the door slid opened.

Strolling down the hallway, Kyoru looked from each classroom sign to another.  
3-E...3-D...3-C...Ah, 3-B.  
Stopping outside the door, she frowned at it as a muffled 'MAR-"sounded from the other side of the door. Shrugging, Kyoru took a deep breath and knocked. After a brief moment when she heard a 'Come in', she slides it open.  
Watching as the teacher strolled over to the door, she greeted him with a curt nod. Returning the gesture, the teacher spoke.  
"Yes, may I help you?"  
"Aa...I'm the new student..."  
The teacher widened his eyes in surprised and cleared his throat as he composed himself. "Oh...You're the new student...What's your name?"  
"Kinosaki Kyoru..."  
"Alright, welcome to Rikkaidai Junior High, Kinosaki...I'm Hakuzari Kusabe, I teach World History... Why not you wait here for a while, I'll get you to introduce yourself to your class.  
Watching as the teacher spun around and strolled towards the front, she sighed. Oh...How I hate introductions.

Marui glanced curiously at the door and sighed. The position of his seat makes getting the view of visitors at the door hard. Giving up trying to see the visitor, his eyes followed his teacher as the teacher moved back to the front of the classroom.  
"Alright, class. Looks like someone else is going to join you guys….  
Murmurs and excited chatters filled the room as the whole class instantly perked up at this. The teacher continued.  
"Okay, everyone...Let's welcome, Kinosaki Kyoru."  
When a girl strolled in and stopped at the front before snapping her head up to look at the class, the room was instantly broke out with whistles, from some males and groans, from some females AKA fangirls. Marui now with both raised eyebrows studied the newcomer with interest.  
Her hair that was tied up into a high ponytail was a fiery shade of red; the bit of hair at the both sides of her face adorned her pretty porcelain-like face. A bunch of hair, her side bangs, hung across her forehead. Her straight delicate-looking nose was well matched with her high cheekbones and her full lips looks soft and pinkish. Her eyes, framed by long lashes, were a mesmerizing color of ice blue. She was clad in a white hoodie with rolled-up sleeves and a pair of dark brown Levi's shorts that reached down to her knees. The one that caught his attention was a black tennis bag that hung on one of her shoulder.  
Leaning back onto the chair, he whistled lowly under his breath and glanced over the empty seat at the back next to the window.  
Wow. Not bad...a pretty one, huh. And she...plays tennis too. Hn. Too bad Niou skipped History or else he could have seen this one...  
Turning back to the front when the girl spoke, he folded his arms across his chest, watching the girl introduce herself.

Kyoru gingerly took a step into the classroom when the teacher finished his announcement. When she reached beside the teacher's desk, her head snapped up to look at the class. Her eyes widened as she was instantly greeted with whistles and groans. She frowned when she noticed that some girls were glaring at her. Ignoring the glares, she cleared her throat and started her introduction.  
"The name's Kinosaki Kyoru. I just came back from America...Nice to meet you guys."  
Looking back at the teacher at the desk, she waited for him to allow her to settle in her seat. Instead, the teacher held up a hand at her and turned to the class.  
"Alright, any questions?"  
One of the glaring girls instantly shot up her hand.  
"Why aren't you in your uniform?"  
Kyoru stared at the girl for moment and replied. "Like I just said, I just came back from America...What I meant was that I laterally did justcame back from America. So today's an exception, plus, I have not bought my uniforms yet..."  
Another hand instantly shot up, it was one of the glaring girls too. Standing up, the girl's glare fell and immediately replaced by a disgustingly sweet smile.  
"Nice to meet you, Kinosaki-san. I'm Hazakawa Yuriko, the President of Niou Masaharu's fanclub. So...if you are ever interested in Niou-sama, please inform me, I'll straight away add you into the fanclub...alright?" The girl instantly sat back down.  
Kyoru shot a raised eyebrow at the girl. She swore that she heard the girl emphasised on the word, 'President'.  
"Huh? Who-"  
Another hand interrupted her. This time it was a grinning boy. Frowning at him as she watched him wagged his eyebrows continuously at her. Does he have some problems with his eyebrows...? Crazy weirdo...  
"Do you have a boyfriend?"  
"No."  
"You play tennis?" Kyoru's eyes instantly flicked over to the speaker. A good-looking red haired boy that was sitting at the back stared pointedly at her tennis bag hung on her shoulder.  
"Yes."  
Kyoru jumped when the teacher suddenly slammed his hand on the desk beside her for attention. "Alright, alright. Enough with all the questions..." Turning to her, the teacher continued. "...Kinosaki, take that seat in front of that empty seat at the back, will you?"  
She nodded in response and instantly started towards it. While making her way to her seat, she heard girly gasps.  
"But t-that's right in front Niou-sama's seat...Not fair..."  
"That girl...!"  
"What if she tries to snatch Niou-sama from me...Oh no, this is bad!"  
Then there was a slam. Kyoru still making her way to the back snapped her head over to the sound. It was Hazakawa Yuuriko standing behind her desk, shooting glares at her and the teacher.  
"Hakuzari-sensei! Why are you letting that girl sit there? I demand for the switch of seats now!"  
"Hazakawa! Sit down and I'm not going to put you there, you'll make too much noise! Now, sit down and be quiet!"  
The girl pouted and turned her head to Kyoru, glaring darkly at her. "If you dare try to do anything to Niou-sama, you will be getting it from me, bitch!"  
Kyoru just stared at the girl in bewilderment. Her eyebrows moved down to form a glare. Okay, she's pissed.  
"Why the hell would I do anything to 'Niou-sama', I don't even know who that is! Seriously, what's your problem? Even if I do meet him, like freaking hell I will ever be interested in him. So back off, girlie."  
With that, Kyoru ignored all the stares, stormed her way to her seat and plopped down on it.  
"You-"  
"Enough! Hazakawa! Keep quiet and leave that girl alone!" The teacher slammed the table again for attention. "Alright, class. Back to lesson!" He ordered and turned to face the board.  
Kyoru returned the girl's glare with a bored look and gave her the finger before turning to gaze out of the window. Kyoru leaned back on her chair, crossing her arms behind her head and sighed.  
It's going to be a long year...How great... Che.  
Unknown to her, the red-haired boy watched her with a smirk plastered on his handsome face. Interesting girl...It's really too bad that Niou isn't here or else he could have seen that drama. He chuckled to himself before turning back to watch the teacher go 'blah blah blah' with a bored look.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three  
"Alright, your homework will be from page 63 to 67. Please get it done and hand it in to me by the next lesson. Okay…If there's nothing else, class dismissed."  
Watching as the teacher strolled towards the door of the classroom; Kyoru sighed heavily and gave out a small yawn.  
Once the teacher was out of the room and disappears from sight, the quiet classroom with only the sound of shuffling papers and the scraping sounds of pens moving across the papers, instantly broke out into a room filled the chatters and the pushing of chairs.  
Glancing up at the clock at the front which reads 1:27, she tightened the hair band that was holding her hair before glancing around the room.  
Raising an eyebrow at a group of girls that were giggling away while sneaking glances at the earlier red-haired boy at the back who asked her the tennis question, she snorted at the familiar typical situation which she had also seen when she was still studying in Hyotei.  
Fangirls… Typical annoying fangirls…. Che.  
Rolling her eyes at the giggling girls, Kyoru noticed that the group of fangirls seems to be getting bigger as some random girls from probably the other classes joined them. She sighed and then decided that she had to get out of the room before she gets suffocated by them. With hands propped on her desk, Kyoru pushed herself up to a standing position and strolled to the front. Darting around the group of girls, she headed towards the door. Exiting the classroom, Kyoru stepped out into the bustling hallway and dodged around the incoming girls who were rushing down the hallway towards her classroom. Shaking her head in bewilderment as she stared at the fast retreating backs of the running girls, Kyoru cursed under her breath.  
What the hell?….Please don't tell me that they do this every single day! Seriously stupid and annoying fangirls….and LOUD too!  
She thought, wincing at the high pitched shrieks from somewhere down the hallway. Shaking her head again in bewilderment, she sighed and picked up her pace towards the direction of the toilet.

With the toilet door slammed closed behind her, Kyoru wiped her wet hands onto her clothes before snapping her head up to see a slightly emptier hallway compared to the earlier busy hallway before she entered the toilet. Hearing that there were no more high-pitched shrieks, she sighed in relief and started forward to the direction of her classroom.  
So what do I do now….Call Keigo? Nah….Wouldn't want him to take the trouble to drive me home….Plus, it's still early. Go and visit Gen-chan? Not a bad idea…I can also get to meet those strong players…Strong players, huh. I wonder whether they are really that strong…Hmm…Look likes I see them for myself…  
Pausing outside the closed door of her classroom, she frowned at it for a moment before reaching out to slide it open. Half-expecting that the classroom would be crowded with fangirls; she peeped through the slightly opened door and sighed in relief when she saw that there was no crowd, only just a few students hanging out at the back. Sliding the door to open it wider, Kyoru strolled over to her desk and swung her tennis bag which was propped against her desk over one shoulder before glancing up at the clock.  
Yep….Definitely still early….  
Sliding the door closed behind her, she adjusted the straps of her tennis bag on her shoulder before starting down the hallway towards her destination.

Walking aimlessly along a deserted hallway, Kyoru ran her hand through her hair in frustration as she snapped her head from side to side, in hope to see someone that she could ask for directions.  
Urgh! Where are the stupid tennis courts?... And why there isn't anyone here?  
Sighing heavily, she dragged herself towards the stairs which was at the end of the hallway. Reaching, Kyoru paused at the top of it and glanced down before sighing again.  
Stuffing her hands into her pockets in one swift movement, her eyes shot wide opened when her hand touched something that felt very much like a paper. Frowning as she fondled with the paper, her eyes lit up in realization.  
Oh yeah…I forgot about the timetable….  
Yanking it out of her pocket, Kyoru unfolded the paper and flip it to the other side to study the content. Putting a foot down on a step, she started down the stairs while studying the piece of paper in her hands. Landing at the foot of the stair, she paused for a brief moment before moving again to get to the top of another flight of stair.  
Hmm….I see, so the tennis courts are at-  
Puffing out her breath in surprise when she felt herself falling forward as a foot stumped against something on the floor of the stair landing, Kyoru let out a small shriek of surprise with arms flapping helplessly at her sides. Shooting her other leg out, She stamped it down onto the floor on the other side of the lump, just in time to break her fall. With the piece of paper clutched tightly in her hand, she released her hold on her breath in relief.  
Cursing under her breath, she withdrew her supporting leg and stepped back slightly away from that lump. Looking down to identify that lump, she was instantly met with a pair of cerulean eyes.  
This lump turned out to be a person or more specific, a boy. The boy had messy spiky silver hair which ends with a small and low loose-looking ponytail trailing down to his collarbone. His slightly tanned handsome-looking face was well-matched with his spiky silver hair. A beauty mole rested right below his lips. The said boy was slumped against the wall with crossed arms behind his head, staring up at her with sleepily. Breaking away from the eye contact, the boy sat up into an upright position and gave out a big yawn before looking up at her again.  
"Watch where you're going." His voice croaked before giving out another yawn.  
Kyoru could only stare at him dumbfounded. The dumbfounded look on her face was then replaced by a glare.  
"Wha-"  
Echoes of pounding footsteps that sounded from the hallway she came from earlier interrupted her, and then repeating shouts of her name came after. Tearing her attention away from the boy, she flicked her eyes over to the top of the stairs she had just climbed down from. Blinking her eyes in puzzlement when a panting male teacher appeared at the top of the stair, she heard the boy behind her cursed under his breath. Watching as the teacher took deep breaths, trying to calm himself, Kyoru raised an eyebrow at him in question.  
"Erm…What is it, Hakuzari-sensei….?"  
The said teacher done catching his breath looked across the railing of the stair at her. "Oh right…Kinosaki, you're the new student right? I need to…."  
Watching in puzzlement when the teacher flicked his eyes over to the boy that still sprawled on the floor, trailed on and stopped whatever he was going to say. She then snapped her head down to look at the boy too, and watched the boy grew rigid with widened eyes under the teacher's gaze. Turning back to the teacher, she stared in bewilderment at the now spluttering teacher as his face slowly turned red for some unknown reason.  
"Aa….Sen-" She raised an eyebrow at the teacher in question.  
"Y-You…BOY!" Kyoru jumped, startled at the sudden outburst from the teacher.  
Startled again when she felt a tug on her arm, the next thing she knew was that she was being dragged down the stairs at a very high speed. Still unable to grasp the situation yet, Kyoru let out a shriek as she was continued being dragged down flight of stairs. Flicking her eyes down at the hand that wrapped around her arm, her eyes followed its arm up to see the silver-haired boy. Staring at him with wide rounded eyes, her wide rounded eyes narrowed themselves at his head.  
"Hey, what the hell are you doing? Let me go!" Putting a finger on his lips was his only response before his head turned back to the front again.  
Shooting an incredulous look at the back of his head, her eyebrows moved to form a glare. "Oi! I said let-"  
A yell and the sound of running footsteps sounded from somewhere above. "BOY! STOP RIGHT THERE!..."  
Her eyes flicked up and about wildly as she struggled to keep pace with the boy. Her being a tennis player, running at this kind of speed was not a problem for her. However, running with someone tugging her arm from the front made running hard as she accidentally kept on stepping onto the rear of his shoes.  
Strands of hair whipped around her face just as they reached the ground level and ran through a hallway. Tugging hard to try pulling her arm out of his grip, she sighed when her arm did not even budged slightest, only to have his grip tightening on her arm. Snapping her head up to the boy, she snarled out at him in frustration.  
"Why are we even running….wait, no…. scratch that, Why am I even running? And hey, didn't I already tell you to let me go?"  
Kyoru snapped her head around when there was another yell again but this time, it came from somewhere down the hallway where they came from. The boy in front uttered a string of profanities and quickened up their pace before making a sharp left into a room. Skidding to a stop after the boy pushed her in, she whirled around and noticed that they were in a windowless small room which looked very much like a storeroom. Flicking her eyes to the boy's back, her eyes narrowed into a murderous glare as she watched him secure the door before spinning back to her. Clenching her fists with anger when the boy just returned her glare with a look of indifference, Kyoru sighed in frustration.  
"This is ridiculous! I'm getting out of here." Storming past him, she reached out towards the door. However, before she could even reach the door, Kyoru felt an arm snaking around her waist while a hand clamped over her mouth. The next thing she felt was her back colliding into a hard body.  
"Wait, don't go out yet…." She shuddered as a low husky voice whispered into her ears. A shoulder drooping slightly when a chin rested on it, she grew rigid at the close proximity.  
The arm which snaked around her waist tightened when the muffled sound of running footsteps grew louder and louder. When it stopped somewhere outside the door, she felt the boy behind grew rigid. The next thing they heard was a sound of shuffling foot somewhere outside.  
Then they heard the person said something like, "Where's that boy?...I swore I saw him run this way….And why do he have to pull that poor girl along?... Hmm…NOW! Where is he?..."  
Listening as the sound of footsteps grew fainter and fainter; Kyoru felt the arm around her waist relaxed as the boy behind her sighed in relief. Taking the chance to free herself, she stamped on his foot in one quick movement, getting a yelp of pain in return. When the arm around her waist slipped off, Kyoru reached up to yanked the hand clamped on her mouth away before stepping away. Spinning around to face the boy, she reached out and yanked him forcefully towards her by the tie around his neck before glaring up at him.  
"Hey woman. There's no need for violence, you know?" The boy drawled as he stared down at her, unfazed by the glare shot at him.  
Kyoru twitched in annoyance and chose to ignore that. "Look, you midget! Why the freaking hell do you have to drag me all the way here?..."  
The boy shot a perfectly arched eyebrow at her. "Midget?... Are you sure you want to call me that…? In case if you didn't notice….I am actually taller than you. So you should not be calling me a Midget…."  
Straightening to her full height, Kyoru looked up at the boy and frowned when she realized that she only reached his chest. Throwing up a glare at him when the boy smirked at her, she folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes at him.  
"Whatever, pervert."  
The boy shot her an incredulous stare. Me? The great Niou Masaharu….. A pervert?...Perverts are dirty and desperate for girls….Me, the great Niou Masaharu don't chase girls and do dirty things….Shouldn't it be other way round… Aren't girls the one who are desperately chasing after me…and would be doing anything to get to me….?  
The boy was about to shoot back a remark when the door suddenly swung opened.

Eh…Where's Niou? I thought this is where he always go to when he skips lessons?... And do Sanada have to send me to get him… he should have asked Jackal or Kirihara to go instead…But again, I should be the one to find him since I'm the genius here…  
Marui sighed and started to jog down the flight of stairs. Finally getting to the ground level, he popped a new piece of gum into his mouth before moving down the hallway. Chewing the gum for a moment before blowing it to a bubble, he walked aimlessly down the hallway. Strolling past a few empty rooms, he stopped and sighed heavily.  
This is so troublesome….That Niou….  
Snapping his head up when he heard a yelp of pain from one of the rooms somewhere down the hallway, Marui cocked an eyebrow at the direction of sound. Walking cautiously further down the hallway, he paused in front of the room when a muffled voice from the inside sounded very much like the person he was looking for.  
Staring at the door for a brief moment, Marui reached out a hand and yanked its handle down. Swinging the door opened, his eyes widened at the scene before him. Niou was staring back at him, wide eyes, with hands hovering over mid-air near the girl's shoulder. The girl whose back was facing him whirled her head around. It was the new girl from his class, Kinosaki Kyoru. He could feel his cheeks heat up in embarrassment at the scene; they look as though they were…kissing.  
Clearing his throat to compose himself, he casually strolled into the room and leaned onto the frame of the door as he watched them in amusement.

Kyoru paused and whirled her head towards the door when a slamming sound came from behind her. It was the red-haired boy from her class. She snapped herself out of her trance when the boy cleared his throat and strolled in to lean against the door frame. Seeing the glint of amusement in the boy, her eyes widened as she realized that her position with the silver-haired boy had caused a misunderstanding, Kyoru released her hold on the tie and spun around.  
"What you see is just a misunderstanding…forget what you see, okay? Thank you." She reassured him firmly before turning back to the silver-haired boy. Giving him a one last glare, she bend down to picked up her tennis bag which had slipped onto the floor during the drama just now before turning to head towards the door. Darting around the red-haired boy, she stepped into the hallway before pausing to turn back to the silver-haired boy.

Niou watched the girl picked up the tennis bag and swung it over her shoulder before moving forward the door. Eyes following as she darted around his teammate and stepped out into the hallway, he cocked up an eyebrow when she suddenly paused and turned around to him with creepy smile plastered on her face, it reminded him a lot like his buchou. He shuddered slightly at the familiar smile.  
"Hope we don't see each other ever again…Nice to meet you, pervert." And with that, Niou just stared after her with a dumbfounded look on his face as she disappeared down the hallway.  
He then snapped his head over to glare when his teammate burst out laughing. "P-Pervert? Nice…So tell me, what did you do to her, pervert?"  
"None of your business….and I'm not a pervert!"  
"But still, that's a really nice new nickname for you…Oh yeah…. by the way, Sanada wants you report to the courts by 2:10…Or else he would make you run 15 laps for every 5 minutes late…." The self-proclaimed genius whistled as he glanced down at his watch before he continued. "…And looks like it's already 2:26….So you better be rushing to the courts now…."  
Cursing under his breath, Niou threw his teammate another glare before dashing past him to hurry to the courts.

"Aa… Sanada! I'm here! Sorry…You see-"  
The fukubuchou looked over stonily with arms folded across his chest. "130 laps around the court now."  
"But-"  
"131 laps."  
Niou looked at the stoic fukubuchou in bewilderment before sighing. "Right, right…130 laps then…"  
Starting his laps, he cursed under his breath. "Urgh. Thank that stupid b***h….for wasting my time!"

Kyoru sighed in relief when she was greeted by the rhythmic sound of tennis balls hitting the ground as she drew closer to an opening. Stepping into the sunlight, she sighed again as Kyoru took in the once-so-familiar scene of a typical afternoon practice. The sound of tennis balls hitting the ground brought back many fond memories from when she was back in Hyotei. Stopping a student that looks like a second year who was walking by holding a box of tennis balls, Kyoru asked.  
"Excuse me, where are the regulars?"  
Even if the second year was surprised at seeing a complete stranger dressed standing in there, he did not show it.  
"They are right over there." The student jutted his chin towards the group of guys in golden-yellow jersey standing near the court at the end. She thanked him and the second year went away.  
Strolled closer to them, her eyes lit up to see someone who she had not seen for about one year. Picking up her pace, she jogged towards that person and tackled him from the behind.  
She felt the person grew rigid. Rolling her eyes playfully, she commented. "Still as stoic as ever….Gen-chan?"  
The said person looked over his shoulders and widened his eyes at the speaker. "Kyoru?"  
Kyoru nodded her head and smiled up at him. She has always looked up to Sanada Genichirou as an older brother than a cousin, and it was a mutual thing between both of them.  
Noticing the attentions they were attracting, Kyoru chose to ignore it all.  
"Kyoru…Wh-What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in America?"  
"Yeah…but my dad decided that I continue my studies in Japan and so I'm here."  
The fukubuchou turned to face the girl with a very small smile. "Uncle…? How is he doing?"  
"He's fine but busy as usual…." Kyoru shrugged.  
"So…You are going back to Hyotei?"  
"Actually…no. I'm going to study here, just transferred into this school today….Class 3-B."  
Sanada widened his eyes at this. "Studying here?"  
"Yup."  
"Why wo-"  
A loud voice interrupted the fukubuchou. "Sanada-fukubuchou! Who's that girl? Your girlfriend?"  
A boy with curly black hair clad in a regular jersey hopped over to them.  
Sanada replied with a curt answer. "No."  
Kyoru smiled at the boy and spoke. "I'm Kinosaki Kyoru…I'm his cousin. Nice to meet you…err…"  
"It's Akaya Kirihara, you can call me Kirihara!"  
"Alright….Nice to meet you, Kirihara-san."  
Turning to the stoic fukubuchou beside her, she gently nudged him at his side. "Gen-chan….Why don't you introduce me to the other regulars?"  
He grunted in response before yelling. "All regulars gather here! You too, Niou….You may stop running now!"  
Waiting for the regulars to gather, Kyoru looked around the area. First year students were practicing swings at a court at another end while some that looks like second years were playing against each other.  
Oh….How I miss tennis practices….It-  
An angelic voice from somewhere behind her, broke her thoughts.  
"Sanada…May I know who's this?" Kyoru snapped her head towards the direction of the angelic voice to see a smiling guy.  
"Sure, Yukimura….This is Kinosaki Kyoru, my cousin."  
The smiling guy turned to her. "Nice to meet you, Kinosaki-san. I'm Yukimura Seiichi, captain of this tennis team."  
Kyoru smiled back in awe. "Captain? Wow…It's an honor to meet such a strong player, Yukimura-san."  
The captain chuckled and turned to his fukubuchou. "What a cute cousin you have here."  
"Yukimu-"  
Turning to the regulars that were gathering behind them, Kyoru gave the Buchou a smile before glancing up at her cousin. When Sanada gave her a curt nod, she started forward to greet each one of the regulars.

Slowing down to a stop, Niou hunched forward, breathing to calm himself down.  
It was only his 31st lap when his fukubuchou called him back. Niou thanked whatsoever the reason which caused Sanada to spare him the other 99 laps gratefully.  
Panting, he cursed again at the reason for his lateness, this time, out loud.  
"That –pant- stupid b***h. Made-pant- me late…and called-pant- me a freaking-pant- pervert too…. What-pant- the hell?..."  
Then a menacing voice suddenly came from in front of him.  
"Who are you calling a b***h, you pervert….hmm?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four  
His eyes went wide as he grew rigid at the familiar voice. Slowly tilting his head up to the source, the first thing they landed on was a pair of feet clad in black Converse sneakers. Flicking his eyes up, Niou was instantly met with a girl, glaring coldly down at him with arms folded across her chest. Pulling himself back up into an upright position, he stared down at the female with a look of indifference, oblivious to the cold glare.  
Thumbs of each hands hooking onto the either pockets of his pants, he drawled. "Oh…It's you…."  
There was a brief moment before she spoke, the cold glare slipping off her face. "Yes, of course it's me….Hmm…And looks like we meet again…"  
Raising an eyebrow when a creepy smile cracked across her face replaced the glare, he shuddered inwardly as it reminds him very much of his Buchou. With hands clasped behind her back, the girl continued, the smile still plastered on her face. "So now, tell me…Who were you calling a b***h…Hmm?"  
Staring back at the girl in amusement, he returned the smile with a smirk. "You….of course. Who else would I be calling a b***h…?"  
"Ehh….Really? Okay then…." Niou watched with a cocked eyebrow as the girl nodded her creepy smiling face at him before snapping her head over to a direction somewhere behind her. His smirk slipped off into a stunned face with wide eyes when she yelled at some unknown person from that direction.  
"GEN-CHAN~ YOUR REGULAR HERE, JUST TOLD ME THAT HE THINKS THAT YOU'RE AN ASS!"  
Tilting his head at the girl in puzzlement, Niou grew rigid as he questioned under his breath to himself. "Gen-chan…?"  
Silence prevailed the air. First years which were practicing swings dropped their rackets in shock while Second years which were doing stretches together froze as their faces were distorted with shock. Akaya cried out in pain when a ball he was about to return slammed straight into his face.  
A heavy feeling of dread fell upon Niou when a familiar booming voice which sounded from somewhere in one of the courts, answered his question. "TARUNDORU!... NIOU MASAHARU! 100 LAPS AROUND THE COURTS NOW!"

Restraining herself from punching him when a smirk cracked across his face, she fought hard to keep the smile on her face from slipping. The urge to punch him grew even stronger when he spoke.  
"You….of course. Who else would I be calling a b***h…?"  
Oh ho ho…He's so dead.  
The creepy smile widened. "Ehh…Really? Okay then…." She gave him a nod before snapping her head over towards the direction of her cousin.  
Summoning a deep breath, she yelled. "GEN-CHAN~ YOUR REGULAR HERE, JUST TOLD ME THAT HE THINKS THAT YOU'RE AN ASS!" Smirking inwardly when she saw the boy grew rigid from the side of her right eye; her hands clasped behind her back tightened their grip on each other as Kyoru fought hard to not rub them together in glee.  
Raising an eyebrow when she noticed that it was suddenly very quiet, her eyes flicked over just in time to a court to see ball went smack into the face of the first regular who greeted her, Aka-something. Grimacing at the painful incident, she spun away from it, turning full-body to the silver-haired boy.  
She then smirked in triumph when a booming familiar voice replied, disrupting the silence. "TARUNDORU!... NIOU MASAHARU! 100 LAPS AROUND THE COURTS NOW!"  
Watching in amusement as the boy stared out at the direction of the voice in bewilderment, her smirk widened.  
"Sa-Sa-Sanada?"  
Then the booming voice came again. "I SAID NOW!"  
Kyoru could not help but gave out a chuckle as she watched his look of bewilderment changed into a dumbfounded look. Shrugging when his head snapped over to her, she spoke. "Oops…. Shouldn't have done that. But it's too late… I think it's better that you start running now."  
The boy looks like he was about to retort but was interrupted. "NIO-"  
"OKAY, OKAY! 100 LAPS THEN!"  
She watched as the boy sighed in resignation and threw her a glare before running to start his laps. Shrugging off that glare, Kyoru watched him run with a smirk of triumph. It then slipped away when realization dawned upon her. She gasped.  
"Wait!...Niou Masaharu? As in class 3-B's Niou Masaharu? The guy who girls are fighting over? The one that's supposed to sit behind me?"  
Burying her face into the palm of a hand, she groaned before snapping her head up again. "Oh god…This is so not happening….!"  
Breaking into a sprint towards her cousin, she darted around the few of the club members and skidded to a stop in front of the stoic fuku-buchou. "Gen-chan! Who was that guy who you just had sent for laps?"  
With an eyebrow cocked up at her question, the stoic male stared at her for a moment before replying. "Niou Masaharu."  
His already cocked eyebrow cocked up even higher when Kyoru gave out a gasp of disbelief. "Kyo-"  
"Gen-chan! What class is he from?"  
"….3-B."  
She let out an even louder gasp of disbelief. "Oh no…No!"  
The male sighed. "What is it, Kyoru…?"  
"I'm from class 3-B too, same class as him! Oh no…and to make it even worse…I sit at the seat in front of his! That, that….means I'll have to see him everyday…! Gen-chan….what am I going to do…?"  
The male stared at his cousin for a moment and sighed again. Sometimes she acts like her age, sometime she acts like she is some elementary schoolgirl, despite being the same age as him. An elementary schoolgirl was how she was acting now.  
Massaging his temples in frustration, he froze. Narrowing his eyes at his cousin in suspicion, he asked. "Kyoru. Tell me. Did he really tell you that about me….?"  
Kyoru cocked an eyebrow in question at him. "Huh? What's tha-"She paused before flicking her eyes up at her cousin, smiling sheepishly at him. "Oh….That…. Nope. Hehe….He deserved it anyway." She shrugged.  
The male sighed and muttered something under his breath that sounded very much like, 'Should have thought so.', before snapping his head up over to the running regular. "NIOU! STOP THE LAPS AND COME OVER!"  
The fuku-buchou cocked up his eyebrow when there was a distant cry of 'Yes!' which sounded from the regular who was the other side of perimeter of the tennis courts.  
Kyoru huffed, folding her arms across her chest. "Gen-chan! Why did you make him stop? You should have just let him run!"  
Sanada stared stoically at her and spoke. "I need him to escort you over to the girl's tennis team. You're planning to join tennis here, right?  
"Yeah, but why do I even need an escort? And even if I do need one, why him?"  
"You will probably get lost again if I let you go alone. Plus, he's the only one that's free to escort you."  
"How about you? You look pretty free…."  
He sighed. "I need to watch over things here."  
The duo snapped their heads over to a growing sound of pounding footsteps and saw a drenched with sweat Niou panting hard, running towards them. The regular stumbled to a stop in front of them and hunched over, trying to catch his breath.  
"Sa….Sa….Sana…da. Wha…what i..is it….?"  
"Niou. This is my cousin, Kinosaki Kyoru. Escort her over to the girl's tennis team."  
His eyes widened at this new information and gave a head-to-toes glance at the girl. "Co..cousin?"  
"Aa."  
"Gen-chan…." Kyoru stared pleadingly at her cousin.  
Niou noticing this raised an eyebrow at her. It took a few moments for him to realize the reason for her behavior. Nodding knowingly to himself, a smirk cracked across his face. The girl then spun her attention back to him when a soft chuckle emitted from his mouth.  
Kyoru narrowed her eyes at him and snarled. "What?"  
His smirk grew wider at the fuming girl.  
"Oh…nothing. It's just that…" He paused for a brief moment and gave out another chuckle before continuing. "…Welcome to Rikkaidai, Kyoru."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five  
Kyoru narrowed her eyes murderously at the smirking regular. How she wish she could punch that stupid smirk off his face. Pushing down against the overwhelming urge, a smile struggled to crack across her face. Now with a smile plastered on her face, she extended a hand towards the smirking male. When he raised an eyebrow in puzzlement with the smirk still on his face at the hand, she jutted her chin at it encouragingly.  
"Go on…it's just a handshake…."  
The smirk slipped off to shoot another raised eyebrow, this time, at her.  
Niou then gingerly reached out his hand to grasp the smaller hand. His face instantly changed into a face of grimace when the smaller hand tightened its grip onto his. Its owner spoke with the smile still on her face.  
"Oh, thank you. How very kind of you…However, I reckon that you do not address me as 'Kyoru'. Well, because…as you can see, you just simply do not have the right to address me by my first name. I hope you understand…"  
Her grip on tightened even more. The smile changed into a smirk when her tightening of grip was returned with a yelp of pain.  
Sanada watching at the side noticed this. Massaging his temples in wearily, he gave out a heavy sigh. Whatever reasons for Kyoru to hold grudges against this particular regular, he definitely does not wish to know what they are. Deciding that he does not want his regular to suffer from an injured hand, Sanada cleared his throat and spoke.  
"Kyoru…. Stop that. I do not want his hand broken before the upcoming matches. So now, be good and let him go."  
The said girl who still have the mentioned victim's hand held tightly in her grip, stared up at her cousin for a moment before giving out a sigh of resignation. Niou pulled back his hand the minute the girl relaxed her grip on it. Holding his hand up to examine it, his eyes widened at a little patch of blue-black on it, a dull throbbing pain still lingered. He whistled lowly under his breath at the sight of the result.

Kyoru huffed as she shot the stoic fuku-buchou a glare. "Gen-chan…You just spoiled my fun!"  
Sanada could only stare back with a deadpanned look. He could not help but shuddered inwardly at her term of fun.  
Her glare then dropped as she looked hopefully at him. "Upcoming matches…huh? Then is it okay if I break his hand after the matches?"  
Niou who was examining his injured hand, snapped his head at her with a dumbfounded look. The dumbfounded look was then replaced by an incredulous one.  
"Well, obviously not…"  
Sanada sighed again before glancing down on his watch. Snapping his head up, he spoke. "Stop all these, you guys have wasted enough time. Niou, get her to the girl's tennis team now before their ranking match starts. Once the ranking match starts, I don't think there will be any available time for her tryout. Now, get going!"  
Niou stared at the other male for a brief moment. "Yes, yes….Got it."  
The other male grunted at his response before strolling off. Kyoru stared longingly at his retreating back before turning back to Niou to see him smirking at her.  
Her eyes instantly narrowed themselves at him before she snarled. "WHAT? Do you want me to help you punch that smirk off your face? I don't mind at all… I'll gladly take up that request. So need my help, hmmmm?"  
Niou could only chuckle as she repeatedly punched into the palm of another hand dramatically, trying to get her point across.  
His smirk widened. "How cute…"  
The girl froze with a fist and a wide-opened hand still hovering over mid-air as she blinked once, then twice at him. "W-what? Did you just call me C-CUTE?"  
Another chuckle emitted from Niou. "Yeah…I did call you 'C-CUTE'….like it?"  
Niou immediately felt a faint feeling of regret for asking that question the minute she turned on her glare at him. "You DO NOT call me CUTE! NEVER EVER CALL ME THAT! GET IT?"  
He watched in amusement as Kyoru took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Flicking her eyes up at him, she huffed, with arms folded across her chest. "Now! Tell me, where's the freaking toilet?"  
Raising both eyebrows at her, Niou watched as she snapped her head from side to side with her back facing him. Then his eyes lit up as a smirk broke across his face. Placing his mouth next to her right ear, he spoke with the smirk still plastered on his face.  
"The nearest toilet is the toilet over there with the blue door…."  
His extended arm pointed to the direction of a distant blue door in the school building which was facing the tennis courts.  
"Can you see it?"  
When she nodded, he continued with his smirk widening even wider. "….That is the nearest toilet. Go on, I'll wait for you here."  
He heard Kyoru mumbled a 'Thanks' before starting towards the direction of the toilet. A glint of mischief could be seen in his eyes as they followed her. Watching her retreating back, he gave out a chuckle.  
"Oh ho…She's going to be in a huge surprise…."  
Leaning back onto the lamp post behind him, he watched as the girl disappeared out of sight into the toilet. Turning his head to look up at the sky, his eyes followed the puffy clouds as they drifted across the sky. He sighed contentedly.  
What a nice day….  
The rhythmic sound of tennis balls, hitting the ground, and the sound of rustling leaves, caused by the gentle breeze, were then suddenly disrupted.  
"DAMN YOU, NIOU MASAHARU!-"

Trickster : Sadist  
1 : 0

Then a dark chuckle emitted from Niou.  
Indeed, such a nice day…..Puri~


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six  
Snapping his eyes open when an utter of his name came from somewhere beside him, Niou blinked to adjust to the brightness. Slowly turning his head to the source, he pushed himself away from the lamp post into an upright standing position.  
Stuffing both hands into his pockets, Niou spun to face the shorter female. Raising an eyebrow, he was surprised to not see an angry or annoyed look on her face. Instead, a neutral look plastered on her face, as though his prank did not affected her at all.  
Refused to believe that it had no affect on her, Niou decided to test the water. Keeping the indifferent look on his face, he asked nonchalantly.  
"Finally….What took you so long?"  
He fought to keep the indifferent look on his face when the girl shot him an apologetic look. "Sorry, I went to the wrong toilet…."  
His eyes widened slightly at her response as Niou expected her to lash out at him. A feeling disbelief swirled deep within him as he continued flicking his eyes about her face, to find no sign of anger or anything. This was the first time one of his victims came back to him without lashing out at him or at least, throwing him a glare. Strangely, this girl didn't do any of these. The only change on her face was that the apologetic look slipped back to the neutral one again. Flicking his eyes down to her hands, Niou frowned to see no clenched fists or any gestures which would probably show her hidden anger.  
"Niou-san."  
Feeling a small stab of surprise at how she addressed him, Niou snapped his attention back to her face with raised eyebrows. The feeling of surprise was then replaced by puzzlement as he thought of how this girl always address him as 'pervert', but again, strangely, this time, she did not. The thing that made him even more puzzled was how she added the honorific after his name. Shrugging off her odd unusual behavior, his face slipped back into his usual indifferent look.  
"Aa…Yeah, alright…Let's go…" He drawled.  
Jutting his chin towards the left, he uttered a 'Let's go' before giving her a curt nod. The girl returned the gesture and started forward. Following after her, Niou frowned at her retreating back before quickening his pace to walk beside her.  
Walking beside her, he looked around cautiously for any traps or whatsoever that the female could have probably planned to use to take her revenge on him for his earlier prank. Still glancing around cautiously when they are nearing the courts, Niou took a last wary glance around, he decided that that area was safe and stopped his lookout.  
Uttering the name of the female, he spoke when she turned her attention to him.  
"You go on….I'll wait here. If they agree to have your tryout, signal to me…."  
The girl stared back at him for a brief moment before giving him a curt nod. "Alright."  
Strolling over to a pillar, Niou slumped onto it as he watched her retreating back with arms folded across his chest.

Stopping outside the courts, Kyoru glanced around at the line of tennis courts. The sound of tennis balls hitting against the string of rackets came from around her. Intense matches can be seen in almost every court. Kyoru noted the board which stood near a table where a few people are gathering at, had numbers on them.  
Don't tell me…  
Frowning at the details that she noted around her, Kyoru turned her head to face the front again, just in time to see a girl clad in a white jersey stroll towards her. As the girl got closer, Kyoru got a better look at her. The girl had a serious look plastered on her face. Her short brown boy-ish hairstyle made her look even more intimidating.  
When she stopped in front of her, Kyoru noted that the other female was a head taller than her. Kyoru watched the other female flick her green eyes over to the male who stood waiting at the pillar a few feet away and gave him a curt nod of acknowledgment. Then they flicked over to her and she spoke.  
"I am Yamasuki Shuko. I'm the captain of the Rikkai Girls Tennis Team. How may I help you?"  
Nodding at her, Kyoru spoke to reply. "I'm Kinosaki Kyoru. I would like to join your team. Therefore, I'm here for a tryout."  
The captain stared stoically at her for a brief moment before she spoke. "Tryout? I'm afraid that the time for one now is impossible. As you can see, our ranking match has already started. So the time for it won't be available for it. Come back for one on Wednesday. Report at 2:15pm for the tryout. Don't be late. See you at Wednesday."  
When Kyoru responded with a 'Yes, Mdm!' and gave the captain a salute, the captain only gave her a small smile in return before turning away to stroll towards the courts.  
Letting her arm fall back at her side, Kyoru gave out an annoyed sigh. "Darn. Missed tryout. Guess I'll have to come back on Wednesday then…."  
Looking up to watch the retreating back of the captain, Kyoru gave out another annoyed sigh. Spinning around to glare at the distant waiting male, Kyoru snarled out to no one. "His fault!...That idiotic pervert…..!"  
Glancing around, her eyes spotted and stopped on a group of chattering girls that were somewhere down the same path as the mentioned male from her spot. Smirking mischievously as she flicked her eyes from side to side at the group of girls and the male, her eyes paused and narrowed themselves at the male as a brilliant idea struck her.  
Forcing the mischievous smirk down to a poker face, she strolled towards the waiting male. Fighting to keep the poker face in place, she stopped in front of him.  
"So how is it?..." Niou drawled.  
He still dares to ask?  
Struggling to keep down the urge of punching that very face, her hands moved to rest onto her back with them clasped together behind it.  
"Their ranking match has already started. I'll have to come back for tryout on Wednesday…."  
Niou tilted his head and shrugged indifferently at this information. "Oh? Come back on Wednesday then….Let's head back."  
"Wait…Aa…I need to speak to someone before we go. Wait here for me…" Not caring for a response, she spun around and strolled off with a mischievous smirk which instantly broke the poker face the minute she turned her back to him.  
Time to execute plan….Good luck, pervert….  
The mischievous smirk went wider at that thought.

Strolling towards the group of chattering girls, Kyoru gave out a small chuckle. Flicking her eyes from one girl to another, her chuckle grew louder.  
Hmm…Good. Seven of them, huh. How lucky…  
Letting her chuckle die down when she was nearing them, she quickened her pace and finally stopped at the outside of their circle. Clearing her throat loudly, all seven attentions turned to her. Making sure that she had all attention, Kyoru spoke when she was sure that all attention was on her.  
"You know….While I was on the way, on this path too….there was this guy called…erm…Niou Masaharu…" Girly gasps of 'Niou-sama' interrupted her. Kyoru smirked inwardly when she confirmed that they were his fangirls, or else if they are not, her plan would fail. Then she continued when they nodded excitedly for her to carry on.  
"….Aa….Yeah, him. He asked me to tell you guys to go over….He said that he need to speak to you girls about something….So-"  
Then she was interrupted again by excited squeals. Kyoru winced at their sudden outburst. Raising an eyebrow at their excitement, Kyoru cleared her throat loudly to get their attention back to her. When she got them back, she gestured at the waiting distant male down the path and spoke. "Do you see him…?  
When they nodded, Kyoru turned to face them full-body again and continued. "…Yeah…Okay, you girls, let me go over first to inform him that you girls agreed…." She continued when encouraging nods responded in return. "…..When you see me walking away from him…that the time that you girls will approach him, alright…?  
Flicking her eyes to each of their faces, she shot them a wink. "…He's shy…"  
Giggles were their only response. She then asked again to confirm that they got the plan. "You girls know what to do…?"  
When they nodded excitedly at her, Kyoru spun around to head back to her waiting victim. Shaking her head in bewilderment at the thought of how giggly the girls were when she told them that Niou was shy, Kyoru scoffed at that thought.  
Shy?…Yeah right. The day when he's actually shy will be the day Gen-chan become obsess with the color pink….Stupid pervert, hope you like my gift….."  
A smirk broke across her face as she quickened her pace towards the male. When she was nearing Niou, Kyoru did not bother to even try pushing the smirk down. The smirk widened when the male shot her a questioning raised eyebrow.  
Eyeing him, Kyoru marched up towards to him and stopped the minute she got right in front of him. Not bothering about the questioning look he shot her, she leaned forward and spoke next to his right ear with the smirk still plastered on her face.  
"You think I'll let you off…? Well, this is what you will be getting for messing with me, pervert."  
Moving away, Kyoru shot him a smile before darting around him to walk back to the Boys tennis courts. Niou's only response was a 'What?".  
Watching after the girl, Niou snapped his head back to the front when a choir of 'Niou-sama' came from where the girl returned from, to see a group of squealing girls running towards him.  
Gaping at them in horror as a heavy feeling of dread fell upon him; Niou uttered a word under his breath.  
"Shit."

Hearing distant squeals from where she walked back from, a dark chuckle emitted from Kyoru as she strolled towards her cousin.  
She spoke to answer the raised eyebrow which was shot at her.  
"Missed tryout, I need to go back on Wednesday for one…." Kyoru shrugged as she came to a halt in front of her cousin. The stoic male nodded at this. Frowning when he noticed the absence of the regular who he had assigned to escort her, Sanada spoke to ask.  
"Where's Niou…?"  
"Oh, Niou?... He needed to deal with his fangirls, they appeared and go 'Niou-sama~' at him out of the blue. Poor Niou, I really pity him…." Kyoru sighed and looked up to see her cousin narrow his eyes suspiciously at her. Shooting him an innocent smile, she spoke.  
"I'll stay here to watch tennis. I'll go find a seat…See you later, Gen-chan…"  
The innocent smile still plastered on her face, Kyoru hopped away to do exactly what she told him.  
Sanada watched after her and froze when a very familiar distant high-pitched squeals which sounded from the direction of the Girls tennis courts verify what he suspected. Kyoru had done it again.  
Shaking his head in bewilderment at the reason for Niou's absence, Sanada gave out a heavy sigh.  
These two are really…..giving me headaches. I think I need a break…..  
Sighing heavily again, Sanada stalked off towards the direction of the toilet.

Kyoru sat down on the only empty seat available beside the smiling captain since all the other benches were already taken by spectators who were too watching the tennis practice.  
"Hi, Yukimura-san!" She greeted him with a smile.  
"Oh, hello there….Kyoru-chan….May I call you 'Kyoru-chan'?..."  
"Of course!" Kyoru shot the captain another smile.  
Tilting her head in question when a soft chuckle emitted from the male, Kyoru asked.  
"Yukimura-san….?"  
The chuckle then stopped as the captain questioned with an amused smile on his face. "Kyoru-chan, may I ask….Why did you do that to Niou-kun…?"  
The girl shot him a puzzled look. The puzzled look then turned into a sheepish one when Kyoru figured out what the captain was referring to.  
"Oh…I asked him for the direction of the toilet. Then that pervert pointed me to the male's toilet, and so I entered it without realizing that it was actually a prank. And also…because of that, I missed my tryout for the Girls team. That pervert deserved it."  
Eyes widening when the captain chuckled as she expected him to reprimand her or something, Kyoru too chuckled along with him. Yukimura nodded at her answer in amusement as he chuckled on together with her.  
Kyoru grinned at the captain as she watched him chuckle on.  
Yeah…You totally deserved it, Niou Masaharu!"

Trickster : Sadist  
1 : 1


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven  
"Alright. Do not be late for the next practice! If there's nothing else, you all may be dismissed!"  
The booming voice of Sanada Genichiroh rang throughout the courts as he declared the end of tennis practice. Chatters instantly broke out among his subordinates as they dispersed off to different directions. The owner of that booming voice then glanced down at his watch before snapping his head up to look around, in search for a sign of a certain regular.  
Letting out a heavy sigh, Sanada glanced up at the reddish orange sky. He noted that the sky was now filled with mixed patches of blazing color of reddish-orange and the color of dark blue as the celestial source of the reddish-orange begun its descend into the horizon, indicating dusk.  
He turned to the sound of approaching footsteps to see his cousin strolling over to him with his tennis bag slung on a shoulder, and hers on the other.  
"Gen-chan! Can I go home with you…? It's such a long time ever since I saw Grandpa, Aunt, Uncle and Sasuke!..."  
Reaching out to accept his tennis bag from the female, Sanada uttered a 'thanks' before flicking his eyes back to her face.  
"Alright….Kyoru, do you hav-"  
A loud voice interrupted him in the midst of his question.  
"Sanada-fukubuchou!"  
The female then spun towards the direction of the loud voice along with her cousin to see the curly black-haired boy, Aka-something, came hopping over with a purple-haired spectacled guy whose name she had forgotten, strolling behind.  
The said vice-captain stared stoically at the two male adolescents. "What is it…?"  
The pair of glasses which rested on the bridge of Yagyuu's nose gave out a glint of a reddish orange light as he adjusted it before glancing up at Sanada.  
"Where's Niou?..."  
Akaya snapped his head from side to side at the two taller males before stopping to fix his gaze on Sanada when Yagyuu directed the question at him.  
"I don't know.' was Sanada's only response. Akaya then spun to the girl who was too watching the exchange and spoke. "….Kinosaki-senpai….I saw you went to somewhere with him….Why didn't he return with you…?"  
Her eyes then flicked from each male to another when all three attentions were turned to her. Shrugging indifferently, her eyes flicked back to Akaya and they rested on him.  
"That per-, I mean…Niou…Just now, a bunch of his fangirls suddenly appeared and went 'Niou-sama~' at him. So he needed to deal with his fangirls…" Shaking her head in bewilderment, Kyoru gave them another indifferent shrug before she continued. "….Poor per-Niou…"  
Akaya tilted his head in puzzlement at her. "Per-Niou…? What's that…?"  
She threw him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I meant….'Niou'."  
Then the spectacled guy whom she could finally recall as 'Yagyuu Hiroshi', spoke. "Fangirls…?"  
Kyoru responded with a nod of confirmation. "Yup."  
Nodding knowingly to himself, Yagyuu asked to no one in particular. "Then where is he now…?"  
Oblivious to the narrowed eyes which was shot at her by her cousin, Kyoru gave out an exasperated sigh. "Probably….trying to run from them…?...I pity him, really…..." There was a brief pause before she continued. "…Hmm…Don't worry. Actually I think he's just probably spending some quality time with them….Aa….How nice of him….!"  
She shrugged. "Oh well…Who knows?...Maybe he wa-"  
"He's here!" Akaya exclaimed with a finger pointing at the direction.  
Eyes widening slightly at this, Kyoru then snapped her head over to the direction where the younger male was pointing at. Her eyebrow then rose up in amusement at the sight of the approaching regular. There stalked towards them was a sweat- drenched Niou. The approaching regular flicked his eyes to each one of them and then they finally landed on her. His eyebrows instantly moved down to a deadly glare the moment they did.  
Eyebrow rising up even higher in amusement, Kyoru threw back a triumph smirk in return. The smirk then instantly drooped when she noticed that her cousin was narrowing his eyes at her from the sides of them. When they flicked away, her poker face instantly reverted back to the one with the triumph smirk.  
His glare remained fixed on her as Niou continued stalking towards them.  
Her triumph smirk changed into a smile in return as her eyes followed his progress towards them. The moment Niou stopped in front of them; Kyoru gave in to her strong urge to tease.  
"Hmm….Looks like he went for a run with his fangirls, huh…I knew it. He decided to spend some quality time with them…." She commented to no one in particular.  
The mentioned male shot her a look of annoyance. "You-"  
"Oh! The sky looks dark! What time is it…?" Kyoru exclaimed, interrupting him.  
All males instantly looked up at the sky upon hearing her comment. The sky which was bathed in a blazing color of reddish orange had only a few patches of dark blue. Apparently, what they seen was a complete contradiction to what she stated.  
"Dark…?" Somewhere from behind her, someone whose voice seemed to belong to the Aka-something guy, questioned in puzzlement.  
Kyoru instantly grinned sheepishly to herself at his question.  
Niou was the first one to look back down at her. An incredulous look could be seen plastered on his face.  
"Yeah, right…." He scoffed, shooting that incredulous look at her.  
Ignoring him, Kyoru snatched up an arm of her cousin who stood beside her. Sanada snapped his head over to her with a questioning look.  
"What is it….?"  
Kyoru looked up at him and asked. "Gen-chan! What time is it now…?"  
Sanada then glanced down at the face of his watch before looking up at her to answer. "6:42pm."  
He turned to Niou when he heard an utter of his name. Sanada raised an eyebrow at him when he noticed that the regular was glaring pointedly at Kyoru.  
When Niou saw that he got his attention, he spoke. "Do you know what your dear cousin did…? She told-"  
An outcry emitted from the subject of the topic, interrupting him.  
"Aa! It's so late already! Let's go, Gen-chan!"  
The instant she finished Sanada felt a tug on his left arm and the next thing he knew that happened was him being dragged off by Kyoru towards the direction of the school gate.  
"K-Kyoru!" Stumbling after the shorter female, Sanada eyed the back of her head with both raised eyebrows as Kyoru stalked towards the school gate ahead, pulling him along with her.  
The female then turned her head and looked at him over her shoulder.  
"We wouldn't want to make Aunt worried, right…?"  
Her eyes then flicked away to the group which they had just walked away from and yelled. "See you, guys!..."

"H-Hey!"  
Niou stared after them in bewilderment. His eyebrows then moved down to glare in annoyance at the retreating back of the culprit who interrupted him in his midst of his complain to the vice-captain. When he got no response from the distant duo, Niou cursed out loud.  
"Damn! That girl…!"  
Yagyuu who was silently watching the whole thing, questioned. "What actually happened…?"  
Akaya nodded his head in a frantic manner. "Yeah, yeah….What happened?..."  
Niou turned to the two and spoke. "You see…My prank made that bitch lat-"  
"Niou…Language." Yagyuu stated firmly.  
Sighing in resignation, Niou rolled his eyes at him. "….Okay….fine."  
Folding his arms across his chest, he drawled.  
"As I was saying… My prank made that….girl late for her tryout for the Girls' tennis team…and so she decided to set my fangirls on me as revenge…"  
Yagyuu eyed him with a deadpanned look. "What did you do this time….?"  
"She asked me for the direction of the toilet…and so I pointed her to the male's one." He replied.  
Akaya, who was listening to their conversation, smirked smugly. "Aa…Serve you right! Who asked you to do that?..."  
Niou then shot him a raised eyebrow. "Who the heck was talking to you, brat?..."  
"You-"  
Interrupting him, Niou spoke nonchalantly. "Oh yeah…By the way, Renji told me to tell you to meet him at the gate…."  
Akaya tilted his head at him. "Yanagi-senpai…?"  
Niou nodded his head in confirmation. "Yes. It's better that you go and meet him now…"  
"Oh alright….Bye, guys!"  
With that, the second year regular sprinted off towards the direction of the school gate. Niou watched the distant running figure grew smaller and smaller, with a look of boredom.  
He then turned to Yagyuu when he heard an utter of his name.  
Yagyuu shot him a questioning raised eyebrow. "Yanagi…? Didn't he already went off with Marui and Jackal…?"  
"I know. I saw them on my way here…" Niou shrugged his shoulders indifferently.  
The other male stared at him for a brief moment before giving out a heavy sigh at the thought of how his junior was tricked by the 'Trickster' again.  
Niou noticed the heavy sigh which emitted from his doubles partner, and shrugged again. "Well…He's an idiot who keeps on falling for my tricks over and over again..."  
"Now….What should do I make her pay…..?" A foot tapped on the concrete floor in a rhythmic manner as Niou frowned in concentration.  
His glasses reflected a glint as Yagyuu adjusted it. He then spoke. "Now that I think of it….I'm sort of surprised to know that this girl doesn't seem to like you….In fact, it seemed more to me that she have this great dislike towards you…"  
Niou eyed his partner thoughtfully. "Hmm…Yeah…"  
His eyes then lit up as a plan struck him. Giving himself a curt nod, a lopsided smirk cracked across his face.  
"I've decided."  
Yagyuu shot the smirking male a raised eyebrow. "Decided…? Decided on what…?"  
His already raised eyebrow shot up even higher at the glint of fierce determination he could see in his partner's eyes.  
The lopsided smirk on Niou's face went wider at his question. A fit of dark chuckle followed after.  
"I've decided that….I'm going to make her mine."  
Yagyuu who was drinking from the water bottle that clutched on his hand, choked at his words.  
"W-What?"  
Another fit of chuckles emitted from Niou. "You heard me….I'm going to make her mine."  
Yagyuu stared at him for a brief moment before letting out a sigh. "Do whatever you want. Just don't get me involved…. Now, go and get your bag, we're going…."  
"Yeah, yeah…." Niou scoffed, rolling his eyes at him before strolling away to the locker room.

The minute Kyoru pulled opened the front door and stepped into the house with her cousin following behind, a middle-aged woman came running towards her from the living room.  
"Kyoru-chan, you're finally here! We're expecting you!..." Sanada Reika pulled the said girl into a hug.  
When they pulled away to break the embrace, Kyoru shot her aunt a puzzled look. "Aunt….How did you know that I'm in Japan…?"  
The older woman gave out a chuckle. "Your dad called me and told me that you are coming to Japan. Once I knew that you were going to Rikkaidai, I was going to call Genichiroh to ask him to find you and bring you over….But I forgot to….How forgetful of me…." She gave Kyoru a swift head-to-toes glance before looking up at Kyoru with an awed look plastered on her face.  
"Kyoru-chan! It's such a long time I have ever seen you, and you have grown even prettier now…!"  
The smile on the woman's face ceased to gaze sadly up at Kyoru. "If only your mum is here…she could have seen you grow up into a young pretty lady….."  
Sadness stabbed her at her aunt's word.  
Mum….  
Her attention was then flicked back to the present when an outcry of her name sounded from the same place where the older woman rushed out. Kyoru spun her head towards the direction of the outcry to see a six year old boy skipped towards her with wide opened arms.  
A smile immediately cracked across her face at the sight of her nephew. "Sasuke!"  
She then turned her attention back to her aunt when she spoke to her silent cousin who stood behind her. "Genichiroh, go and help me set up the table for dinner. Bring Sasuke in along with you."  
Sanada gave his mother a curt nod before brushing past Kyoru to move towards the direction of the kitchen. When he stopped in front of his nephew, Sasuke instantly snapped his head up at him to greet him with a grin.  
"Old man!"  
Kyoru watched the older male narrowed his eyes at the grinning boy and snarled. "Who are you calling an old man?"  
"Obviously, it's you. Who else?" The boy poked out his tongue childishly at his fuming uncle before turning to skip away into the house.  
Kyoru shook her head at the scene with an amused smile as she watched her cousin gave out a heavy sigh before strolling in after the boy. She then turned to her aunt when she heard a chuckle from her.  
"Poor Genichiroh….Always called by Sasuke as 'Old man'…."  
Kyoru too chuckled at this. "Yeah…Such a long time ever since I had seen their interaction…."  
The older woman then suddenly cried out in realization. "Oh, I almost forgot…! Your luggages have already been delivered over…!"  
Kyoru looked surprised at her aunt. "My luggages…? B-But my dad has already- "  
Her aunt shot a smile. "I have already made arrangements with your dad. You will be staying with us, Kyoru-chan!"  
"I-It's okay…I don't want to trouble you…"  
The older woman shook her head. "I insist, Kyoru-chan…I insist."  
Kyoru stared at her for brief moment before gingerly giving a nod. "O-okay then. I'll be glad to…"  
"Alright, then it's settled! Now…Let's go and eat. Dinner's ready!..." Her aunt chirped.  
Kyoru shot her a lopsided smile. "Thanks, Aunt!"  
Nodding in response, Sanada Reika pulled her by the arm and led them in.

Strolling into her room after a bath, Kyoru continued ruffling her soaked wet hair with a towel as she pulled out the roller chair from the study desk and settled down on it.  
Still ruffling her hair with the towel, her eyes flicked to the photo frame that sat on the desk in front her and a feeling of emptiness came the moment they landed on the content of it. There in the picture was a family with a couple and a little girl. Her eyes then fixed on the woman of the couple who was gazing down at the little girl in her arms. Kyoru hated and loved this particular photo of this family at the same time, it was the last happy yet heartbreaking photo which this family had taken. The time this photo was taken, was when she was only eight years old. The year she was eight, was the year when the woman who held her in the photo died in a tragic accident. It was the most horrible time of her life, haunted memories of it still lingers.  
She sighed heavily, Kyoru hastily flicked her eyes away. Shrugging off at the thought of it, she pushed herself up to stand before strolling over to the window. Sucking in a deep breath, Kyoru gazed out at the night sky for a moment before turning to lean against its grills. Her eyes instantly landed on the freshly ironed uniform that was hung onto the handle of the wardrobe which stood opposite her, against the opposite wall.  
Tomorrow is going to be looooong day. Just great.

A high-pitched choir of 'Good morning, Niou-sama~' instantly greeted him the minute he stepped through the door into the classroom. Niou flicked his eyes over to the source of it to see a group of girls at the front of the classroom, waving excitedly at him.  
He threw back a wink at them and greeted. "Good morning, girls….."  
He fought hard not to wince when high-pitched excited squeals emitted from them. He loves all the attention and how his fangirls always gushes over him. However, he could not help but admit that being too….popular with the female population sometimes somehow becomes a little too overwhelming, that all of it pretty much scares him at times.  
Niou gingerly shot them a smile in return when he noticed that they were batting their eyelashes at him. Clutching onto the strap of his tennis bag which was slung on his shoulder, Niou gave them a curt nod before strolled off to continue his way towards the back of the classroom.  
A mischievous smirk instantly appeared on his face the moment his eyes landed on a sleeping girl who was slumped back on her chair with her head rested on his desk behind.  
Oh….She sits in front of me….? Ho ho….how lucky.  
Sliding his tennis bag off his shoulder, he propped it against the wall beside his desk the moment he reached the back of the classroom. With the mischievous smirk still plastered on his face, Niou strolled over to the seat in front of him and stopped at it. Since the chair was moved all the way back so that the female could rest her head on his desk, it left a gap between the desk and the chair which she was on now. Seeing that there was enough space for him, Niou stepped in to stand in front of her sleeping form before extending both arms out and propped them at the either sides of her head.  
Leaning forward, the smirk on his face widened when he noticed the small ups and down of her chest, confirming that she was truly asleep. Apparent to the shock looks and girly gasps that were caused by his action, Niou leaned forward even more so that to get his face nearer to her face.  
"Kyoru…." He called out to her in a husky low voice.  
Frowning when there was no response, Niou tried again. "Kyoru…"  
He then grinned to himself when the girl groaned groggily in response. When her lids snapped opened to reveal her ice blue orbs, he cooed. "Good morning~"  
Wincing when she let out a shriek, the next thing he least expected to feel was the feeling of something hard colliding into the right side of his cheek.

Kyoru watched groggily with a raised fist which was hovering over mid-air as the male stumbled back onto the desk behind. Frowning in puzzlement at the girly gasps of concern which came emitted from somewhere at the side, her eyes flicked over to see looks of horror on her classmates' faces. Then turning her head over to the male in front of her, she tilted her head groggily in puzzlement.  
Then flicking her eyes down to her fist which was still raised in front of her, Kyoru frowned at it. Looking up at the male again to see him rubbed at the right side of his cheek, she muttered in question to him.  
"What happened…?"  
When the male shot her an incredulous look, Kyoru frowned irritably and drawled sleepily. "What..…?"  
Not bothering for a response, she flicked her eyes down at her raised fist before flicking up at him. Glancing up to give him a blank stare, she glanced down at her raised fist again, with the same blank look.  
Her eyes then suddenly went wide as realization dawned upon her.  
Then gingerly raising her head up to look at the glaring male, Kyoru shot him a sheepish smile.  
"Oops?..."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight  
With a glare still fixed on the back of her head, Niou continued rubbing at his right cheek. He could still feel the lingering dull throbbing pain on that very side of his face.  
He did not expect that the result would turn out like this in the end. Shrieking as her reaction…? Yes, that was expected. But getting punched in the face was totally not what he expected to come after. When he realized that the culprit did not even know she had done, he was seriously rendered….. speechless.  
And when she had finally came to a realization, her only extremely intelligent response to that was an 'Oops'. Yes, just 'Oops'.  
Leaning away from the desk to slump back onto his chair as Niou eyed the girl with narrowed eyes. Flicking his eyes away to watch his geography teacher drone on with a look of boredom, then he flicked back his gaze to the girl and eyed thoughtfully at her. An eyebrow raised up at her when he realized that she was scribbling everything down that was written on the board. Repeatedly raising her head up to look at the board before looking back down at her notebook to scribble down the content on the board on it.  
Ehh….A studious type….? Never thought that she would be that type….  
Leaning forward to prop an elbow on his desk, Niou rested his chin on the heel of a palm, watching her every movement intently with raised eyebrows. Then leaning back onto his seat with arms folded across his chest, he watched her shifted in her seat. He then chuckled softly in amusement to himself when he noticed how she was frowning with concentration as she continued her scribbling.  
How cute…Being so attentive, huh….  
With an index finger tapping against his cheek in a rhythmic manner, Niou continued watching on in amusement. Snapping his head over to the desk next to his when he heard an utter of his name from there, he shot his classmate who he only knows by the name of 'Tatsuya', a questioning look.  
"What is it…?"  
The male then extended a hand towards him which had a folded piece of paper clutched in it. "It's from Marui."  
"Oh."  
Eying the paper in his hand, Niou reached out to accept it from him. Glancing down at the paper which was now held between his index finger and thumb, he started unfolding it to read its content. Scowling in annoyance was his only response the moment he read its content.  
[So….how was that punch…?]  
Shooting an incredulous look in the direction of his red-haired teammate, his scowl deepened as he recalled that earlier smug smirk that Marui had shot him just when they all were ordered to be seated at the beginning of this lesson, in annoyance.  
Che…That bastard.  
Reaching out to his pencil case to take out a pen, he pulled out its cap and was about to write down a reply when the ringing sound which was emitted from the bell suddenly rang throughout the room, indicating the end of lesson.  
The booming voice of his teacher came after. "Class, read page 14 to 16. I'll be going through those at the next lesson. Alright, lesson ends here."  
At that, the teacher strolled out of the classroom and disappeared behind the door as he slid it close.

The chatters which had just broke out from among her classmates the moment the door slid closed, hushed down when the door slid opened again to reveal their teacher with the relation of being both their Math and form teacher, Watanabe Ichiyo or usually addressed as 'Watanabe-sensei' in this school.  
Chatters once again broke out as the teacher strolled in to the front.  
"SILENCE!"  
The whole room instantly hushed down into silence at this. Her eyes widened slightly when Kyoru saw the teacher flicked his eyes over to her.  
"Kinosaki….. Welcome to Rikkaidai….I am Watanabe Ichiyo. I am both your form and Maths teacher."  
Kyoru gave him a curt nod in return. "Aa….Thank you."  
The teacher then flicked his eyes over to the male who was behind her. "Niou. I shall let you do the honors to be her guide today. So….during break time, tour her around the school to let her get familiarize with it. Understood?"

The teacher then flicked his eyes from the girl in front over to him. "Niou. I shall let you do the honors to be her guide today. So….during break time, tour Kinosaki around the school to let her get familiarize with it. Understood?"  
Girly gasps immediately broke out across the room.  
Smirking when Niou noticed how the said girl grew rigid at this, he flicked his attention back to the waiting teacher with the smirk still plastered on his face.  
"Of course, not a problem."  
He then flicked his attention back to Kyoru when she spoke. "Watanabe-sensei, I don't think a guide is necessary….I can familiarize with the school by myself…."  
There were some nods of agreement from some of the females at this.  
The teacher then just waved his hand in a way as though he could brush her comment away. "Niou had already said that it's not a problem so just let him guide you, alright…?"  
Letting out a sigh of resignation, Kyoru gave him a halfhearted nod.  
The teacher gave her a curt nod. "Good."  
He then turned his attention to the class. "Alright. Take out your textbooks. We are covering Trigonometry today."  
With that, he turned away to face the board behind.  
Letting out another sigh of resignation, Kyoru slumped back down on her seat with arms folded across her chest. Frowning at the intense feeling of poking gazes, she snapped her head over to the direction of them and realized that some females were glaring very intently at her. Her frown deepened at this realization. Shaking her head in bewilderment to herself, she leaned forward to prop both elbows on her desk, brushing away their glares to focus on the lesson.  
Seriously….What's their problems…? Fangirls….  
Shaking her head once again in bewilderment, she sighed before looking up to pay her full attention to the lesson.

The sound of the bell rang throughout the room once again, indicating the end of another lesson. The moment the teacher walked out of the room, students immediately scrambled out of their seats, ready to leave for their break time. The whole room was instantly filled with chatters.  
Kyoru pushed herself up to stand up from her seat before allowing herself to stretch. Letting out a soft yawn, she glanced up at the clock.  
Finally, break…  
Stepping away from her desk, she was about to start forward to move to the front to exit the room when a hand suddenly snaked around her wrist, stopping her from starting her progress towards the front. Frowning, she snap her head to look over her shoulder to identify its owner. Her eyebrows instantly moved down to form a glare when she had done so.  
"What do you want, pervert…?" She drawled in annoyance.  
Niou raised an eyebrow at her in amusement with a smirk plastered on his face. "I'm your guide so you will have to stick with me throughout today….."  
Rolling her eyes at him in response, Kyoru spoke. "Look, pervert. You being my guide does not mean that I need to stick with you throughout…Plus, your service is not needed. I do not need anyone especially you to help me familiarize with the school. I'll do it fine by myself, thank you."  
Frowning in question at her, Niou gasped and asked dramatically. "Shouldn't you be happy that the great Niou Masaharu wants you to stick with him…?"  
The only response Kyoru had to that was the incredulous look which was plastered on her face.  
Seriously….Talk about egos.  
Shaking her head in bewilderment at him, Kyoru scoffed. "The great Niou Masaharu…? You can-"  
"Niou-sama!"  
An outcry of the male's name which emitted from the side interrupted her in the midst of her comment. Both of them turned their heads to the source of it to see Hazakawa Yuriko who proclaimed herself as the president of Niou Masaharu's fanclub, standing at the other side of a desk which was next to Kyoru's with both hands rested on it.  
Niou who was still had his hand clutched onto Kyoru's wrist, released his grip on it as he shot the other female a questioning look.  
"Yes…?"  
Shooting a glare at Kyoru, she strolled over to stand between them before turning to face Niou. "Niou-sama. I don't think you should bother needing to help her familiarize with the school. I'm sure she can do that by herself. Please do not trouble yourself when this girl obviously doesn't appreciate your kindness."  
Before Niou could even reply to that, the female already had her back facing him as she turned to Kyoru. An eyebrow then shot up at the thought of what she said.

Kyoru instantly shot an eyebrow at the taller female when she spun away from Niou to face her with a glare. Strutting towards Kyoru, the female flipped her long and straight blond hair over her shoulder before resting the same hand on her hip. With the glare on her face deepening into a heated one, she stopped right in front of her.  
"You ungrateful bitch! Niou-sama has kindly agreed with Watanabe-sensei to take the trouble to help you familiarize with the school when he could have just used this break time to rest...! And what did you do…? You called him a pervert! You have utterly no respect for him!" She screeched.  
Kyoru who was about to open her mouth to retort, widened her eyes in shock when the glaring female suddenly swung her hand down towards her face. Shutting her eyes instinctively at her action, Kyoru waited for the sharp pain to be inflicted on her cheek. Frowning with her eyes still closed when nothing came, she gingerly opened her eyes only to have them widening in shock once again.  
The female in front of her too had a look of utter shock on her face as she stared wide eye at the male. Kyoru who was still unable to grasp the situation yet, blinked frantically with widened eyes at him. Staring wide eye at the bigger hand which was clutched onto the female's slender wrist, she realized the reason why the pain she was expecting did not come. Niou, who was standing behind the other female, stared down at the shocked female emotionlessly.  
The next thing which made Kyoru's eyes widened even wider in shock was when the male spoke in a low dangerous voice.  
"Nobody touches my woman."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Gasps emitted from the few watching students who remained in class. A piece of chewed gum fell out onto the floor from his mouth as Marui who was watching the drama from his desk, gaped in shock at it.  
What the hell…?  
With widened eyes, Marui flicked his eyes from Niou, the female and then to Kyoru in a repetitive manner.

Hazakawa Yuriko stared up at her idol with wide eyes as her jaws dropped slightly opened to gape at him in shock. Her obviously fake eyelashes batted at him as she blinked frantically in bewilderment.  
She then stammered in disbelief. "Wo-Woman….?"  
Niou only continued staring down at her stonily. Silence was the only response from him.  
Yuriko shook her head slowly from side to side in bewilderment with widened eyes. "No…No way. Niou-sama, you can't possibly choose her right….?"  
There was a moment of silence before Niou spoke to reply coldly. "You heard me just now."  
At that, he released his grip on her wrist. He then flicked his eyes to Kyoru before flicking them back to the female. "And stay out of this."  
Not bothering for any response, Niou reached out towards Kyoru and in a swift movement grabbed up an arm. Clutching onto her wrist, Niou turned and walked towards the back doors of the classroom, tugging the protesting girl along with him behind.  
Niou then spoke curtly to Marui as he walked past him. "Later."  
With protesting Kyoru stumbling him, Niou led them out of the classroom, into the hallway.

Gaping, Yuriko watched them exit the room and disappear into the hallway. She then turned, walking back to her too-gaping group of friends.  
The moment she stopped right in front of them, her eyebrows moved down to form a frustrated frown.  
"What's wrong with Niou-sama…! Why her? Look at that bitch! She's such a freak! Her hair is like so red! And compared to me, I look even prettier than her! I simply can't understand why….This is ridiculous!" She snarled to no one in particular.  
A shorter female with curled brown hair strolled forward to her from the group and reached out to pat reassuringly on her back. "Don't worry, Yuriko! She must have done something that made Niou-sama like this. I mean…Why would he even choose her? That bitch was like so rude to him. She even punched him! Why would he want someone who had done all those to him…?" She shrugged.  
Yuriko then glanced over to her and eyed her thoughtfully before nodding in agreement to herself. Brightening at her friend's words, a smirk crept across her face.  
"Yeah…. You're right, Suzune. There is no f**king way he will choose someone like her! I'll make sure that she will never dare try to mess with my Niou-sama ever again….!"  
Her smirk then instantly drooped down to a cheerful smile when she finished and chirped. "Oh well…Let's go and eat, girls!"

The hallway of bustling students shot the passing duo with looks of curiosity and shock which mainly came from certain females.  
"Hey, pervert! Let go of me….!"  
Kyoru yelled over to the leading male at the front while trying at her attempt to release her wrist from his grip. Her eyebrows moved to form an annoyed glare when no response came from. Niou at the front only continued leading their way down the hallway. Trying to free her wrist from his grip, Kyoru nearly shrieked when she nearly crash into the wall as the male suddenly took an abrupt turn into a corner.  
She glanced around and realized that they were no longer in the noisy and crowded hallway. Glancing onto the hand which was clutching onto her wrist, Kyoru narrowed her eyes irritably at it.  
Sighing in frustration, she then glanced up to eye at the male's head before snarling out in annoyance. "NIOU MASAHARU! YOU BETTER LET ME-"  
She then stopped when Niou abruptly stopped and released her from his grip.  
Both of her eyebrows shot up in surprise at this. "Oh."  
Kyoru felt a small stab of surprise at how he had obediently done so, this time. Watching as the male turned to face her; her eyebrows moved to form a glare.  
"Finally."  
When Niou only responded to this with an indifferent look, she folded her arms across her chest as her glare deepened into a heated one. "Don't just drag me off like that…! And what the hell was that bullshit you told that girl? Look what you have done, everyone will think of us in the wrong way! Listen, pervert! I am not your woman and I never will be! You got that…?"  
Eyebrows deepening even more at him, Kyoru eyed him through narrowed eyes. Spinning away from him, she took a step forward to start her way back to their classroom. Giving out an exasperated sigh, Kyoru trudged forward.  
Stupid perv-  
Eyes widening in surprise when she felt herself suddenly getting pulled backwards by her right elbow, the next thing she felt was the feeling of her back colliding onto a cool hard surface. Gasping softly in surprise to herself when a hand came landing next to her head against the wall behind, Kyoru hastily flicked her eyes away from it to identify its owner. Frowning when she have done so, she shot him an annoyed look.  
The hovering male responded with a smirk. "Where do you think you are going….?"  
"What do you want…?" She drawled in annoyance.  
The smirk on his face widened as Niou glanced down at the now-glaring female in amusement. "I'm not done with you yet."  
"Well, I am-"  
Kyoru stopped in the midst of her comment when Niou abruptly leaned in until his face was hovering over hers. He then said in a husky voice. "I've already decided that you are my woman whether you like it or not…." Just when she was about to open her mouth to protest, he continued. "…. And I'll make sure that you see yourself as that."  
Pressing against the wall as much as it could allow in attempt to break the uncomfortable close proximity between them, Kyoru shot him an incredulous look with widened eyes.  
She then stammered between a snarl. "A-Are you crazy…! Who says that you can just decide like that….! And like hell, I would ever see myself as that! Well, I have two words I would like to say to you…Dream on!"  
Eyebrows shooting up in amusement, Niou said firmly. "Yes, you will and I'll make sure that that will happen….. Mark my words, Kyoru…Mark my words."  
Kyoru stared up at him in annoyance before letting out an exasperated sigh. She then glared up at him again and growled irritably. "God damn it….I really, really feel like punching you now….!"  
"Aa~ No violence~" Both eyebrows raised up in amusement, he cooed.  
Eyes widening slightly in realization at her words, Niou gave out a chuckle. "Oh yeah...Speaking of punches, what are you going to do about that? Hmm…?"  
Tilting her head at him in puzzlement with a frown, she questioned. "Huh..? What is 'that'…?"  
"You know, that damn nice punch you gave me in the morning…"  
Kyoru stared up at the hovering male for a moment before speaking to reply.  
"Oh. That…? Well….nothing. You deserved it. "  
She shrugged indifferently at him. Straightening up to an upright standing position against the wall, Kyoru folded her arms across her chest.  
Tapping a foot against the concrete floor in an impatient manner, she said irritably. "I would like to go for my break so…would you kindly move out of the way…?"  
"No."  
"Move your gigantic ass NOW!" She growled.  
"Nope. And for your information, I do not have a gigantic ass.…" An amused smirk crept across his face.  
Being caged between the wall and Niou, she tried to push away one of the hand which was pressed against the wall, next to her head. Kyoru then snapped her head over to him with an annoyed look on her face when the hand did not even budged the slightest.  
"Move!"  
"No."  
Sighing in resignation, Kyoru glared heatedly at the smirking male and huffed. "Fine, fine! I'll treat you to lunch, happy…? Now, move!"  
Niou grinned as a response. "Really…? Promise…?"  
"Yes!" Kyoru gritted her teeth in frustration.  
"Hmm… Since there's no tennis practice today, let's make that treat today."  
Staring up at him with look of annoyance, Kyoru sighed again in resignation. "Fine…after school. Okay, so now please move!"  
His smirk widening at this, Niou replied with a curt answer. "Deal."  
At that, he instantly push himself away and stepped back.  
Kyoru then gave him a last glare at the smirking male before stepping forward to the left to head back to the crowded hallway. She then paused when Niou yelled over from behind.  
"It's a date~"  
Turning her head to look at him over her shoulder, she snarled back in annoyance. "It is not a date!"  
Turning back to the front, Kyoru shook her head in bewilderment before quickening her pace to get to her destination.

The sound of the bell rang throughout the room, indicating the end of school. The teacher's voice came ringing throughout the classroom next.  
"Alright. Class, please prepare yourselves. We are going to have a test tomorrow…."  
Outcries and groans immediately emitted from the sea of students from her at the moment it left her mouth. Shaking her head at her students, she continued. "We are going to have one tomorrow whether you like it or not. There's nothing else. You may all be dismissed."  
With that, the teacher strolled out of the room and disappeared down into the crowded hallway.  
Chatters instantly broke out across the room as students started filing out of the room. Kyoru let out a big yawn and stretched to get her sleeping muscles up in gear again. Pushing herself up from her chair to stand up, her eyes swept across the room and noticed that most of her classmates have already left.  
"Bye, Kyoru-chan!"  
She snapped her head over to the direction of the voice. Her lab partner and as well as her first friend she had made during her earlier Biology lesson, Hakushiro Keiya. Waving back to her friend, she called back to her. "Bye, Keiya!"  
Watching as Keiya strolled out of the room; a smile broke across her face. She was really grateful that not all of the girls in this class are that hateful Niou's fangirls. Grimacing, she thought back at how her classmates eyed her the very moment she appeared at the mouth of the back door at the end of their break time. She could still remember the deadly glares she received from some certain females. If the glares can kill, she would have seriously been dead by then.  
Sighing wearily, Kyoru grabbed up her bag and was about to step out of her seat but stopped abruptly when an arm draped itself on her shoulder. Eyebrows instantly moving down to form a glare when she already suspected who it belonged to, Kyoru snapped her head over to the owner with that glare.  
Glare deepening when she confirmed that her assumption was right, she glanced down to glare pointedly at the arm on his shoulder.  
"Get that arm off." She said in low threatening voice.  
"Fine, fine…But seriously… you make a really good armrest." Niou said, letting his arm fall back to his side.  
Kyoru shot him a smile at him in return.  
"Oh…. And you would definitely make a really good…. no… excellent punching bag." She said sarcastically.  
The smile on her face drooping down, Kyoru walked around him and started towards the back of the classroom to get the door. Pausing, she turned her head to look over her shoulder at him.  
"Come on. Let's get this over with."  
Not bothering for a response, Kyoru continued her progress towards the door. Passing by Marui who was packing his things, Kyoru paused again at his seat.  
"Marui-kun."  
Marui looked up from his desk before snapping his head to look over his shoulder in response at that.  
"Oh…Kyoru."  
"Marui-kun, I need to attend to something so can you help me tell Gen-chan not to wait for me..?"  
Marui stared for a brief moment before shooting her a grin. "Yeah, sure."  
Shooting back a smile, she nodded curtly. "Thanks, Marui-kun."  
"Just call me, 'Marui'. No need to add that 'kun'. It sounds too….weird."  
Her smile widening at this, she nodded. "Sure. Then I'm off now. See you, Marui."  
"Aa."  
Taking a step forward to continue her progress towards the door, she paused at the mouth of it when she heard Marui exclaimed to someone behind. "Niou, wait! Where are you going..? Aren't we supposed to meet the others..?"  
"Help me tell them that I can't make it today." Niou's voice came emitted in response from somewhere behind.  
"Ehh…? Why…?"  
The next reply from Niou made her grow rigid.  
An amuse-laced reply came in reply. "Kyoru and me are going for a date."  
Body shaking with anger, Kyoru spun around to snarl at the speaker. "It is NOT a date!"  
Fuming, Kyoru spun back to the front before stomping out into the hallway.

Watching after her as Kyoru stomp out of the room, Marui turned back to Niou.  
"You are-"  
An angry yell from outside interrupted him.  
"NIOU MASAHARU! HURRY UP! QUIT WASTING MY TIME! COME OUT NOW OR ELSE LET'S JUST CALL OFF THIS THING!"  
Raising an eyebrow at that, Marui flicked his eyes away from the door to his teammate.  
"So, a date…?"  
An angry exclaim emitted from the outside once again just when Niou was about to open his mouth to answer.  
"Niou Masaharu! Didn't I already said that it's NOT a date?"  
Niou chuckled at this in response. He then spoke. "My date is waiting. Wish me good luck."  
A lopsided smirk then broke across his face at his own words.  
"See ya, Marui."  
With that, Niou strolled towards the door and out of the room.  
Staring at the door, Marui raised an eyebrow in amusement when an annoyed exclaim of 'You stupid pervert!' came from the outside.  
Chuckling, Marui nodded knowingly to himself. With both eyebrows raised up, his eyes widened in eagerness.  
Stuffing the rest of his things into his tennis bag, Marui hastily zipped it close before snatching it up.  
Slinging it onto a shoulder, he took off to get to their meeting point.  
Better tell the others about this…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"I'm bored…How long do you guys think they will take to finish their food…?"  
Watching the scene before him with a look of boredom plastered on his face, Akaya Kirihara let out a yawn. Snapping his head to his either sides to his too-watching seniors, he flicked his eyes to Marui who was beside him when he spoke.  
"Weren't you the first one who agreed on this…?" Marui glanced away from the scene to his junior and shot him a raised eyebrow.  
"B-But I didn't know it will be this boring…" Akaya grumbled.  
"Aa…Just bear with it." Marui reached out to ruffle his junior's hair before turning to the team's data collector, Yanagi Renji, to see him scribbling away on his notebook as though his life depend on it. He then glanced over to the stoic vice-captain who sat with arms folded across his chest, on the same red cushioned seat they were kneeling on.  
"Sanada."  
The said male snapped his head over to him. "What is it, Marui…?"  
"Didn't you agree on this..? Why aren't you watching with us…?"  
Sanada stared at his regular for a brief moment before letting out a heavy sigh. He the replied nonchalantly. "I'm not interested."  
"Ehh…?"  
Sanada let out another sigh. It was all Yukimura Seiichi's fault and so now…. here is the great Sanada Genichiroh, the stoic vice-captain of Rikkaidai Boys Tennis team, cramped together along with three other fellow regulars of his, on a red C-shaped booth of a fast-food restaurant, stalking.

-Flashback-  
All regulars turned their heads to the door the moment it slid opened to see a panting Marui.  
"Marui-senpai! You're here!" Akaya cried out to him in greeting.  
Raising a hand up in acknowledgment, Marui greeted back between pants. "Y…Yo."  
Yukimura who noticed the absence of the Trickster tilted his head in question at the still-panting Marui. "Hmm…Marui-kun, where's Niou-kun?..."  
Marui who hunched over, trying to catch his breath, straightened up to a standing position before moving further into the classroom to get closer to his gathered teammates. Still panting, he sucked in a gulp of air before letting them out again.  
Flicking his eyes to his waiting teammates, he spoke. "That's the thing! Niou can't make it because he's now going on a date with Kyoru!"  
"WHAT?"  
"N-Niou-senpai and Kinosaki-senpai are going for a da-da-date….?" Akaya stammered in surprise.  
Marui replied. "Yes. That's what Niou told me."  
Sanada then shot a raised eyebrow at Marui. "Niou and Kyoru…?"  
When Marui nodded in confirmation, his already raised eyebrow shot up even higher.  
A date...? I thought Kyoru disliked Niou…? Why would Kyoru agree on a date with him?  
Akaya turned to Sanada who was opposite him. "Sanada-fukubuchou! What are you going to do about this?"  
Sanada stared at the younger male for a moment before replying with a curt answer. "Nothing."  
Marui flicked his eyes side to side at Akaya and Sanada before folding his arms across his chest. Frowning in thoughts, his eyes then lit up at an idea. Glancing up at his teammates, he cried out. "I know! I say…we follow them! Who's with me?"  
"Me!" Akaya instantly volunteered himself at this.  
"I'll come too. I can collect some data while we are at it." Renji said before turning to Yukimura and Sanada.  
"Seiichi, Genichiroh. Are you guys coming..?"  
Yukimura was the first one who replied. "I don't mind..." With that, he turned to Sanada beside him. "Genichiroh…How about you?"  
"Leave me out of this."  
Yukimura frowned delicately at his answer. "Are you sure…? Have you ever heard rumors about Niou-kun? "  
This caught Sanada's attention. He has never paid any attention to rumors as they were what he thought as 'useless and foolish'.  
"What rumors?"  
Yukimura smirked inwardly at this. Shrugging, he spoke with a feigned look of worry. "Niou is pretty infamous for being one of Rikkai's greatest heartbreakers. One date and he dumps the poor girl the next day. Girls call him a 'monster', but still continue to flock to him. It's part of his charm, I guess."  
Yukimura glanced up to see Sanada staring at him with eyes slightly widened before continuing in a serious tone. "Are you sure about this?"  
No reply came. Sanada who was now lost in his thoughts did not notice the mischievous gleam in Yukimura's eyes. Sanada Genichiroh has fallen into his trap.  
The other regulars, however, picked up soon enough that this was another of Yukimura's 'favorite-things-to-do' list with 'scare Sanada shitlless' ranked first followed by 'watch him panic and loss his head 'coming in as a close second. The latter was a rare sight to behold and capable of reducing him to that state would probably by Yukimura-buchou, the angelic devil himself. Still, the regulars value their lives so they could only watch silently as they watch their dearest captain tease the poor vice-captain. Again.  
All Sanada could see in his mind now were images of a crying Kyoru, a heartbroken Kyoru, an emotionally fragile Kyoru…. Such images of his usually strong cousin disturbed him a lot. His eyes then narrowed as he thought of Niou smirking and striding off, leaving behind a crying Kyoru. Who knew that Sanada Genichiroh had such a vivid imagination?  
Yukimura watched as the vice-captain narrowed his eyes slightly. His inward smirk widened at this.  
Satisfied to see that reaction from Sanada, he continued innocently. "Hmm…If only you could be there to make sure Niou behaves…"  
There was a moment of silence before a heavy sigh of resignation emitted from the vice-captain. He then looked up to meet their faces. "Alright….I'll come."  
Yukimura has won again.  
Marui glanced away from Sanada and instantly realized the absence of two regulars. Frowning at this, he questioned. "Where's Jackal and Yagyuu…?"  
He then turned his head to Renji when he spoke. "Jackal has to stay back for an extra lesson and Yagyuu have to go for a student council meeting."  
"Oh."  
With that, Marui then turned to everyone. "Well, since all of you agreed….Then let's-"  
A ringtone interrupted him before he could even finish.  
All heads turned to see Yukimura take out his phone and the ringtone was instantly cut off when he answered it.  
"Hello. Yukimura Seiichi speaking here."  
All watched Yukimura nod his head against his phone at something the person at the end of the line said. He then spoke to reply to the person.  
"Alright. I'll be there by ten minutes. Bye."  
Snapping his phone close, Yukimura turned to his regulars with an apologetic look. "Sorry. Looks like I won't be able to join you guys, I need to go to the hospital."  
"Ehh…!" Akaya was the first one who reacted to this by giving out a surprised outcry.  
"Sorry, Akaya. But I need to go."  
Yukimura then turn to the others. "I've got to go now. Bye, guys!"  
With a wave, the captain strolled towards the door and slid it opened before disappearing into the hallway.  
Sanada let out a heavy sigh before stepping forward. "Let's go."  
Not waiting for any response, he stepped forward to get to the door and led the regulars out of the room and into the hallway.

-End of Flashback-

Sanada could not help but notice the stares they were receiving from other customers in the fast-food restaurant. But that was understandable since it was really strange to see three almost-fully-grown males kneeling on the seat, peeping over a wooden divider. And now, a feeling of regret is nagging irritably at him. Why did he even agree to this?  
Sighing heavily, he snapped his head over to Marui when he heard an utter of his name from beside him.  
"What is it?..."  
"I forgot to tell you about this. Did you know that Niou claimed that Kyoru is his woman during break?"  
"What?" Akaya who was listening, exclaimed in shock.  
Marui could hear Renji from somewhere behind muttered something that sounds like 'interesting, interesting…." under his breath to himself.  
Glancing down at the vice-captain, he watched the vice-captain grew rigid at this.  
Oops…? Maybe I should not have told him that…  
Watching as Sanada's eyebrows move down to glare, Marui gulped nervously. He could feel a murderous aura emitting from the vice-captain.  
The next thing Sanada did made his eyes widened.  
"NIOU MASA-"  
A hand came swinging towards his mouth, covering it before he could even finish.

"Hmm…Did you hear that?"  
Niou glanced over his shoulder to the direction from where he picked up a calling of his name. Shrugging, he turned back to face Kyoru who sat opposite him.  
"Hear what?..." She asked with a raised eyebrow.  
"Hear someone calling out to me and it sounded very much like Sanada's…"  
Her already raised eyebrow shot up even higher at this. "Gen-chan..?"  
Niou shrugged indifferently. "Never mind that, I must have heard wrong."  
With a smirk on his face, he then shot the female a wink. "We wouldn't want anything to disrupt our date, wouldn't we…babe?"  
The next thing he felt something stomp onto his foot. Wincing, Niou shot Kyoru an incredulous look. "Woman, seriously…."  
With a glare, Kyoru snarled in response.  
"You do not call me a 'babe'! And how many times do I need to say that this is not a date! Honestly, Niou Masaharu… What is your brain coated with? Caramel? Cement? Why can't you just simply get that into that stupid thick head of yours?"  
Niou gave a sigh at this. Propping an elbow onto the table, he rested his head on it before picking up a fries from his serving tray. Nibbling at its crispy end, Niou glanced up at the girl with an indifferent look.  
Still nibbling at the fries, Niou spoke nonchalantly. "I don't understand why you are so strongly against calling this a 'date'. Look around, girls are ogling me. They are dying to be you."  
Rolling her eyes at him, Kyoru snorted at what he said.  
Niou raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't believe me..? You'll see…"  
Kyoru watched the male glanced around. Turning to another table across theirs when Niou stopped at it, she saw that it was a table occupied by three girls that looked about the same age as her, giving out giddy giggles. She then realized that the reason for their giddy giggles was Niou.  
Turning her head to Niou, she watched a smirk crack across his face. He then spoke. "Watch and believe."  
Shaking her head in bewilderment at this, Kyoru watched Niou throw them a wink. An increase in volume of the giggles was the instant reaction to his wink.  
Niou turned back to Kyoru with a smirk. "See…? Told you. I bet if I ask them whether I can join them, they will gladly let me. Need me to prove that too…?"  
Scooting across the booth to get to the edge of it, Kyoru shot him an amused smirk. "Sure, go ahead. Then I shall go now, hope you will enjoy your time with them. See ya."  
Snatching up her drink, she was about to push herself up to stand but stopped when Niou appeared before her, not allowing her to do so.  
"Where do you think you are going…? We're not done yet."  
"Well, I'm done. See, I have already finished my food. So now, move." She ordered.  
"No. Until I'm done, then we leave."  
"Move or else…. I'll make sure that there will be….no Father's day for you." Glaring heatedly up at him, Kyoru caught the straw which was poking out of the styrofoam cup in her hand between her lips, and took a long sip of Pepsi from it.  
Niou then replied with an amused smirk. "Are you sure about that? I advise you not to, babe. Because if you do that, you will have no Mother's day for yourself either."  
Eyes widening at this, Kyoru burst into a fit of cough the moment a bit of the carbonated drink which was moving down her throat, went down into the wrong tube. Watching as her body shook to her coughs, Niou glanced down at the coughing girl with concern.  
When her cough starts to die down, Niou asked. "You okay…?"  
"A…Aa."  
Clearing her throat, Kyoru glanced up at the male with a glare. Blushing, she stammered between a snarl. "Wha-What the hell was that, you pervert? And didn't I already say to not call me 'babe'…!"  
Shaking her head in bewilderment, she huffed. "I'm leaving."  
"Then I am too."  
With a sigh, Kyoru flicked her wrist as a gesture to ask him to move away.  
Niou then obligingly moved away to allow Kyoru some space to stand.  
"Let's go."  
Pushing pass the male, Kyoru strolled towards the automatic glass sliding doors with Niou following behind.

Stopping in front of a house, Kyoru turned to Niou who was behind her.  
"I'm going in now. You better don't mention anything about today to anyone, understood….? Bye."  
With that, she spun around and strolled towards the house but stopped in her progress towards it when a question from the male behind. "What…? No goodbye kisses for me…?"  
Turning full-body to face him, Kyoru strolled back to the male. Niou raised an eyebrow at this.  
The girl shot him an apologetic look and spoke when she got in front of him. "Sorry, I forgot."  
Eyebrow shot up even higher at this, the next thing that he least expected was a throbbing pain at his right foot. Cursing at the pain, Niou glared up at the retreating back of the girl. "Damn it, woman! Is stomping on my foot necessary?"  
Kyoru then turned her head to look at him over her shoulder and spoke. "Pretty much. And goodbye kisses for you..? Hn. No and never, pervert."  
Shaking his head in bewilderment at her retreating back, Niou glanced down and grimaced at the throbbing pain at his foot.  
He cursed to himself. "Seriously, she stomped like an elephant."  
"I heard that….! And I do not stomp like an elephant!"  
Niou glanced up in surprise at this to see her disappear into the house. Tilting his head slightly at it with an amused smile, he stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. Strolling away, he burst out into a fit of chuckle.  
Today was interesting, eh…? Hn. Puri~

"Whoa. Sanada, your cousin's pretty scary….Honestly, I feel his pain. Ouch."  
A grunt was the only thing he had as a response from the vice-captain.  
Grimacing at the thought of what they witnessed, Marui turned to the others. "I think that's it for today."  
Snapping his notebook closed, Renji slid his pen into the breast pocket of his uniform before pushing away from the wall he was leaning on. "Let's go then."  
Renji then turned to Sanada. "We shall leave now, Genichiroh. "  
"Aa."  
Nodding in return, Renji turned away and started forward.  
"See ya, Sanada." Marui nodded at the said male before turning away to catch up with Renji at the front.  
"Bye, Sanada-fukubuchou!" Akaya waved before rushing to join the two.  
Watching as his companions walked off, Sanada gave out a heavy sigh and strolled off towards the house they had witnessed Kyoru enter.  
I can't believe that I actually agreed to do such a foolish and unnecessary thing…  
Massaging his temple wearily, Sanada let out an exasperated sigh.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Kyoru….Wake up….Kyoru…"  
The said sleeping girl frowned in annoyance at the feeling of someone shaking her. Groaning groggily, her hand slapped the hand which was shaking her away before turning to her side. Snuggling into her pillow, she drifted off to sleep again.  
Sanada who was standing by the bed stared at his cousin for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. Raising an eyebrow when the obviously-still-sleeping girl suddenly raised an arm, the next thing made his already raised eyebrow shot up even higher.  
"Teacheeeeer…..Howwww dooooo you solve…." Mumbles trailing off to become soft snores, her arm limply dropped back down. Glancing away from the sleeping figure, he frowned at the alarm clock which stood on the table behind him.  
Drag any longer and we're going to be late….  
Turning to his sleeping cousin with a frown, he glanced down in annoyance at the still sleeping Kyoru. Shaking his head in bewilderment at her, he ordered. 'Kyoru! WAKE UP!"  
The said girl instantly sat up at this before groggily snapping her head over to him to ask him in a panic tone. "Where's the fire?"  
Sanada stared deadpanned at her. "There's no fire."  
"Oh." She threw him a sheepish smile. "What's the time now?"  
"7:42."  
Her eyes widened in shock at the answer. "7:42? Why didn't you wake me up earlier, Gen-chan?"  
Not waiting for a response, Kyoru immediately swung herself off the bed and threw opened the door before dashing out of the room.  
Shaking his head in bewilderment at the wide opened door, Sanada let out a sigh.  
Today is going to be a long day….

Kyoru glanced up at the glaring girls before flicking her eyes to fix them on their leader, none other than, Hazakawa Yuriko.  
Sighing, Kyoru propped an elbow on the desk before resting her head onto the knuckles of that arm.  
Returning the glare with a bored look, she drawled. "What do you want…?"  
The glaring female folded her arms across her chest. "I don't know what you did to my Niou-sama that made him say that weird thing about you disgusting bitch being his 'woman' but I'm warning you he's mine so back off!"  
Unfazed by the outburst, Kyoru scoffed at her claim and merely shrugged indifferently in response. "Happy to."  
Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Yuriko rested the same hand on her hip.  
"I simply don't understand why-"  
Kyoru frowned in annoyance. "Hey, didn't I already agree to your warning? Now, could you girls please just go away? It's getting too suffocating here."  
"Why you…."  
"Honestly, Hazakawa. Why the need to disrupt such a peaceful morning? "All heads snapped over to the source of the voice in surprise to just nice to see Keiya settle down on the desk at two rows away from where they are. Waving at the girl in greeting, she called over to her with a curt 'morning'. Kyoru then flicked her eyes away from the distant girl to only to have her eyes widening slightly in realization to notice that almost-empty classroom was now bustled with her classmates.  
Hand still on her hip, Yuriko turned to face Keiya with a glare. "This is none of your business, Shiroyama!"  
Shooting back an indifferent look, the said girl jutted her chin towards Kyoru. "This is clearly my business since that's my friend that you are annoying."  
Before Yuriko could even respond to that, a male behind the group of girls cleared his throat loudly to have attention turned to him. Gasps of 'Niou-sama' emitted immediately from the group of girls. Kyoru only narrow her eyes at him in response when they landed on him.  
"Good morning, Niou-sama." Kyoru watched Yuriko shoot the said male a smile as he moved past the gaping girls towards the back of the classroom.  
Niou glanced over to the smiling girl and gave her a curt nod. "Morning."  
Her smile drooped down slightly in disappointment at his curt response before it moves up again. Eyeing at the tennis bag slung over Niou's shoulder, Yuriko asked in a sugar-coated voice. "How's your morning practice, Niou-sama?"  
Kyoru flicked her eyes up at Niou when he paused at her seat to watch him turn his head to Yuriko to respond curtly to her question. "Fine."  
Raising an eyebrow when the female pouted in response to his curt response, Kyoru failed to see the incoming hand. Startled when something warm and heavy landed on her head, she snapped her head over to its owner only to be annoyed to realize that that warm and heavy object on her head was his hand.  
Her eyebrows moved down to glare at Niou when he started ruffling her hair, a smirk shot back at her. Shuddering slightly, she could feel the piercing glares directed at her from the watching girls at his action.  
"What?" She snapped at the smirking male.  
Throwing the annoyed girl a wink, he chuckled. "Morning, babe."  
"Don't call me a 'babe'!" Kyoru snarled as she watched Niou stroll over to his seat with the smirk still plastered on his face.  
Sighing, Kyoru turned back to the front to see that the girls have gone back to their seats. Then she realized the reason when she saw a teacher settled his books down on the teacher's desk at the front. Standing up along with the rest of her classmates to greet the teacher, she sat back down when they have all done so.  
Kyoru turned her head to the desk next to hers when she heard an utter of her name from there, to see a hand slid a folded piece of paper across the surface of her desk towards her. Glancing up to the male with questioning look, she nodded and uttered a 'thanks' to him when a whisper of 'Shiroyama' emitted from his mouth.  
Unfolded the paper to see its content, she eyed it with a smile.  
[Join me for break.]  
Picking up a pen, she wrote a reply before passing it to the male for the paper to be send back Keiya. Nodding satisfying when she saw that the paper reached the girl, Kyoru turned back to focus on the on-going lesson.

Sound of the bell rang throughout the area, indicating the time for break time. Two girls stepped into the rooftop of the school building to instantly be greeted by a blast of wind. Once they settled down at a spot near the surrounding fences, the red-haired one stated.  
"The rooftop's nice."  
Tucking a side of her raven hair behind her right ear, Keiya turned to the speaker. "Yeah. This is one of my favorite spots in school."  
Kyoru nodded at this before glancing up at the hovering sky but only to wince when her eyes accidentally landed on the blinding sun. Looking back down, she glanced over to Keiya.  
"Keiya, where's that friend of yours?"  
The said girl turned to Kyoru with a smile. "She should be here soon."  
At this very moment, the door swung opened to reveal the said person. Keiya raised an eyebrow at the newcomer and shrugged. "Speak of the devil, there she is."  
The strands of her brown hair slapped onto the approaching girl's face as the wind blew at them. When she got nearer to them, Kyoru got a closer look at her. The striking color of the brunette's emerald eyes could not help but instantly made her flicked her eyes over to them as the way they stood out seemed to be screaming at her to look at them. Quickly flicking away her eyes when the girl shot her questioning look, Kyoru nodded to her in response.  
"What took you so long, Yuna?"  
"Tsukasa-sensei needed me to help him carry the books." The brunette sighed heavily as she settled down on the floor in front of them. Glancing up with a frown, the brunette grumbled. "Argh….I hate being the representative for Biology."  
"Just bear with it."  
Keiya shot the brunette a look of pity before gesturing to Kyoru. "Ah, Yuna. Remember Kinosaki Kyoru from class?"  
"Of course!" The brunette then instantly turned to Kyoru and flashed a smile which was so contagious that Kyoru have to return it. The brunette then extended a hand towards her. "Nice to meet you, I'm Hashimoto Yuna. Can I call you Kyoru-chan?"  
Kyoru clutched the extended hand and shook it. "Sure. Nice to meet you too, Yuna."  
Once they were done with the introductions, the trio proceeded to start on their food, chatting to know more about Kyoru while doing so.  
"So which club do you want to join?" Yuna asked.  
"The tennis club."  
The two girls stared at each other in surprise before turning to Kyoru. "You play tennis?"  
Kyoru looked up from her lunch box to reply. "Yeah."  
Eyes lighting up in realization, Yuna pouted. "Kyoru-chan…..What's with you and Niou-kun? Not fair, I have always wanted to talk to him…."  
Kyoru raised an eyebrow at her at this. "Nothing at all. I just don't know why he just seems to like to annoy me a lot, especially with those stupid pranks of his! Plus, he's so flirty, so….I don't know, like some kind of….playboy."  
"Hmm…No surprise there. He's pretty well known in school for his infamous pranks. He's also known to be one of the school's heartbreaker." Keiya shrugged and continued. "I don't even know what's so good about those, girls go crazy over him…well, like someone I know." She said pointedly, jutting her chin towards Yuna.  
Eyes widening upon hearing her comment, Yuna pouted.  
"H-Hey, he's definitely worth going crazy over, okay?... I think those pranks of his make him so damn sexy! And seriously, you two have to admit that he is hot, right…? He's like…..wow. So….Oh my god, Niou-kun…." Yuna trailed off dreamily.  
Keiya sighed. "Here she goes again. She's a total fangirl of him, don't mind her."  
Kyoru chuckled at the dazed look on Yuna's face. "Well, at least, she isn't like Hazakawa."  
"True, true." Keiya shook her head in bewilderment as she mentally recalled the earlier incident. Turning to Yuna to realize she was still caught up in fantasy, Keiya waved a hand in front of her face. "Alright, enough with the fangirl-ing!"  
"What….?" Eyes blinking stupidly at Keiya, Yuna tilt her head in puzzlement at the girl.  
Sighing at her reaction, Keiya turned back to Kyoru when she asked. "Which club are you two from?"  
"I'm from the Photography club!" Yuna chirped in response.  
"Welcome back to earth, fangirl." Keiya said dryly to her.  
Kyoru could not help but chuckled in amusement at what Keiya said. Turning to Keiya, she asked. "What about you?"  
Keiya who was open her mouth to reply was interrupted when Yuna chirped in an answer for her.  
"She's the vice-captain of the Aikido club! Awesome, right?" Nudging Keiya playfully, Yuna beamed at her with undisguised admiration.  
Kyoru stared in awe at Keiya. "Vice-captain? Wow."  
Keiya shrugged. "Nah, no biggie."  
Done with her food, Keiya placed the lid back to close her lunch box before glancing up at Kyoru. "So… Kyoru. When is your tryout for the tennis club?"  
"Today at 2:15."  
"Kyoru-chan, do you-"  
The sound of bell interrupted Yuna before she could even finish.  
Sighing at the sound of the bell, Kyoru glanced over to the two girls. "Time to go in. Let's go, girls."  
All stood up and strolled towards the door, ready to take on the remaining hours of school.

Stepping outside the school building, Kyoru winced at the brightness of the afternoon sun as she strolled towards the tennis courts ahead. Pausing outside the courts when she has reached them, she glanced around the area before fixing her eyes on a certain distant female. Starting towards her, Kyoru surveyed the area as she strolled over to her.  
Almost all courts were occupied by on-going practice matches and by freshmen who were practicing swings. Girls clad in white jerseys who she assumed are the regulars of the team, can be seen playing against each other. Snapping her head back to the front to see that she was nearing the female, she called out to her.  
"Aa…..Yamasuki-buchou!"  
The said bespectacled captain turned to her in response. "Oh…You're the girl from Monday. Kinosaki Kyoru, right….?" When Kyoru nodded in confirmation, she continued. "Alright. Good, you're punctual. This will be what I expect from every member of this team. Since you're here, let's start on your tryout. The regulars are currently practicing for the upcoming matches so you will up against a third year member instead."  
"Sure." Kyoru nodded.  
At that, Kyoru watched the captain call out to a raven-haired girl. "Masaoka, come!"  
The said girl strolled towards them with a puzzled look. "What is it, Buchou?"  
The captain gestured at Kyoru. "She's playing against you for her tryout."  
The girl widened her eyes in surprise. "Oh. Okay…sure."  
"Nice to meet you. I'm Masaoka Yuki." The raven head flashed Kyoru a smile.  
Shooting back a smile, Kyoru nodded curtly in acknowledgment. "Kinosaki Kyoru. Nice to meet you too."  
Both then turned to the watching captain when she spoke. "Alright. Masaoka, have it at Court D. Just two sets should be enough for her tryout." She then turned to Kyoru. "And…Kinosaki, good luck."  
"Thanks, Yamasuki-buchou." Kyoru nodded back.  
"Then we shall head off now, Buchou." Yuki turned away from the captain, looking over her shoulder at Kyoru and jutted her chin towards the courts. "Let's get going, Kinosaki-san."  
With a nod of her head, Kyoru followed the leading girl to start on her tryout.

"Rough or Smooth?" Yuki asked.  
Kyoru who was in the midst of tying her shoelace glanced over to Yuki and answered curtly. "Smooth."  
"Alright."  
Turning her attention back to her shoes, Kyoru secured the shoelaces before standing up to watch the blue racket went spinning on its head with Yuki. Watching in anticipation, the racket finally stopped its spinning and fell with a 'thud' on the concrete floor of the court.  
"Rough." Yuki announced and looked up with a smile. "Let's start, Kinosaki-san."  
Kyoru nodded. "Masaoka-san, please just call me 'Kyoru'."  
Yuki replied with a smile still on her face. 'Then call me 'Yuki'."  
Nodding with a smile, Kyoru spoke. "Sure. Let's start then, Yuki."  
Turning away, Kyoru snatched up her red racket before moving off to her side of the court. Getting into a ready stance, her eyes followed Yuki as she moved across the court to get to her side of the court.  
"Masaoka Yuki to serve. Two-set match! Love all. Begin!" The umpire announced.  
Kyoru eyed her opponent as Yuki dribbled the tennis ball in a rhythmic manner. Body growing rigid with readiness, she watched as the ball gets thrown up into air.

"Everyone, Kinosaki-senpai's tryout has started!" Akaya cried out, rushing towards the regulars.  
Marui was the first one to respond to that. Snagging his arm around Akaya's shoulder, Marui playfully ruffled his hair before glancing up at the others. "Let's go and support her!"  
"Yeah, yeah! Let's go!" Akaya nodded excitedly in agreement. He then turned to Niou who had just joined the group. "Niou-senpai! Kinosaki-senpai's having her tryout now!"  
Niou glanced over to Akaya with a raised eyebrow. "Oh…?"  
Marui, who was watching, stood upright in realization. Slipping his arm off his shoulder, he released Akaya and strolled towards Niou before resting his elbow on Niou's right shoulder. Niou's already raised eyebrow shot up even higher when Marui wagged his eyebrows at him. "What…?"  
Marui grinned. "So how was the date with Kyoru…?"  
Staring at the red head for a brief moment, Niou replied. "It was…." Grimacing inwardly as he mentally recalled the throbbing pain in his foot caused by Kyoru's stomping, he continued. "….great."  
"Yay! Buchou's the best! Let's go!" Akaya cried out. At this, both heads turned to the rest of the regulars to see them walking off.  
Staring at their retreating back in puzzlement, Marui muttered. "Where are they going…?"  
"I think to watch Kyoru's tryout." Niou muttered in reply.  
Glancing over to each other, they shrugged at each other before moving forward to follow.

"30-All." The umpire announced.  
Murmurs broke across the watching crowd which gathered around Court D.  
"Buchou. That girl's pretty good, don't you agree…? Look. Masaoka is already panting hard and yet that girl is only panting a little. Good stamina, I must say. " The captain turned, just in time to see her vice-captain, Asahara Mai, stop next to her.  
Shuko turned back to survey the match before her to see that what her vice-captain was true. Yuki could be seen panting hard with obvious rivulets of sweat running down her flushed face while on the other hand, Kyoru could be seen panting slightly with only a few droplets of sweat at the sides of her face.  
Golden eyes still following their every movement, Shuko pushed up her glasses and spoke. "Her stamina's not bad but still not good enough."  
Glancing over at the captain, Mai asked. "So what's her name…?"  
"Kinosaki Kyoru."  
Nodding, Mai turned back to watch the on-going match.

Tightening her grip on her tennis racket, Kyoru started forward the moment the neon yellow ball left Yuki's racket, readying herself for a swing. Ball contacting with the strings of her racket, she send it back to the other side, over to the side which was left opened for her to do so. Panting slightly as she watched Yuki at the other side ran across the court in attempt to return the ball, missed the ball which whizzed speedly past her and bounced twice, earning Kyoru another point.  
"30-40. Kinosaki Kyoru leads."  
Kyoru was impressed, really impressed by this team's tennis capabilities. Masaoka Yuki who was not even a regular, just an ordinary member of this team, had already been giving her difficulties throughout the game. She still could remember how she had to run around during some parts of the game to return the balls which Yuki had sent to the unguarded portions of her side of the court.  
Not only the boys' tennis team is good, the girls' team is pretty good too. Kyoru noted as she watched her opponent dribbled the ball. Coming to Rikkaidai isn't so bad after all….  
Eyes focusing on the incoming ball, her racket connected with the ball, sending back a decent forehand several feet to Yuki's far left.

"25 percent chance of her opponent being able to return that shot." Renji muttered, watching the match before him with his fellow regulars.  
Marui who was watching every movement in the on-going match, commented. "She's pretty good."  
"Not good enough." Sanada said stonily, surveying the match with arms folded across his chest.  
"Not good enough but I see potential. She got a long way to go before she can reach her full potential." Yukimura stated. He then turned to the silent captain of the girls' tennis team. "Yamasuki-buchou. I heard that one of your regulars would be transferring out once the upcoming matches are over, so who do you plan to choose to take that regular spot?"  
The said captain turned her head to look at him. "I have not thought of it yet. That will be determined after the next ranking match."  
"Then-"  
A sudden deafening boom overhead interrupted Yukimura in the midst of his comment. A blast of icy wind came after. All heads looked up to see gray clouds drifting past the soon-to-be dark sky. The fresh salty smell indicated the coming of rain.  
"Looks like it's going to be heavy one." Niou stated to no one in particular before glancing back down along with the other spectators.

"1-love. Kinosaki Kyoru leads. The second set shall commence. Kinosaki Kyoru to serve!" The umpire shouted over the overhead deafening boom.  
Dribbling the ball in a rhythmic manner, Kyoru firmly caught the ball in her left hand. Throwing it up into the air, she eyed its movement as it descended down towards her. Just as when she was about to swing up her racket to send it over to her opponent, a liquid dripped into her left eye, blurring her vision. Hissing at the stink in her eye, she winced when something hard that she assumed was the ball which she left in the midst of serving, fell hard on her head.  
Then she could hear the umpire shouted a 'Fault serve. Love-15.'  
Rubbing at her left eye, she blinked frantically to clear her eye of the liquid.  
What the hell was that?  
Opening her eyes when it no longer stunk, she was only met with more of that liquid. Shuddering at the iciness of them as they fell on her, she glanced up to realize that they were raindrops.  
"Masaoka! Kinosaki!"  
Kyoru snapped her head over to the source of the voice to see the captain walking into the court.  
"The tryout stops here! Get indoors!"  
The captain then turned to the crowd. "All get to the shelters!"  
Watching as the crowd start dispersing, Kyoru stared in realization when she spotted the male regulars among the crowd. Snapping her head over when she heard a calling of her name, Kyoru turned to see the captain gesturing for her to go over.  
Eyeing the distant figure through her squinted eyes when the rain fell even heavier, she could feel herself getting soaked as raindrops poured down on her. Stopping, she gratefully took her tennis bag when the captain pass it over to her.  
"Thanks."  
"No problem. Now, let's get under the shelters first, and then we'll talk. Let's go." The captain ordered before spinning away to lead the way.

Extending a hand towards Kyoru, the captain spoke with a small smile. "Welcome to Rikkaidai Girls Tennis team, Kinosaki. That was a great game so far."  
"Thank you, buchou." Kyoru shook her hand, returning the small smile.  
"You have a lot more potential yet to be discovered. Train hard, Kinosaki." The taller female spoke.  
"Yes, buchou."  
Giving a curt nod at Kyoru's response, Shuko turned away from her to survey the pouring rain outside.  
Such a heavy rain, it seems that practice might not be possible to continue.  
Glancing over to her seated subordinates, she noted how a lot of them were drenched and were shivering. Eyes flicking over to a regular when that certain female sneezed, Shuko then made up her mind.  
Turning her attention away from that regular, she addressed all. "Alright. Practice shall end now."  
Upon hearing that, there were some protests about how they should continue to practice for the upcoming matches. Holding a hand up as their captain called out for their attention, the protests ceased instantly when she spoke again.  
"I'm ending practice now because it will be bad if any of you fall sick. I want all of you to take a warm bath once you reach home, I don't want anyone to fall sick. Plus, it looks like this rain will take a while for it to stop. So If I continue to keep all of you here, there will be a high chance for you all of falling sick. I don't want that. We shall resume practice tomorrow."  
A soft sneeze came right after her speech proved her point, having everyone to turn to the source of it which happened to be Kyoru who stood somewhere behind their captain.  
Shooting them an apologetic look, Kyoru spoke with a slight tremble. "S-Sorry…."  
Shuko muttered a 'bless you' to her before turning back to her subordinates. "See, this is what I mean. If there's nothing else, you may all be dismissed."  
Watching as her subordinates started dispersing off to different directions; Shuko spun towards Kyoru and spoke. "Hold on, Kinosaki. Wait here. I'll get you your shirt."  
"Shirt…?" Kyoru asked in puzzlement.  
"The one like Yuki's wearing. All of our members have that. That marks you as part of this team. "Shuko explained. "Wait here."  
"Oh…Alright." Kyoru nodded, watching as the captain strolled off. Switching her tennis bag over to her other hand, she sighed and glanced out at the outside. Nose twitching as a warning of an incoming sneeze, Kyoru cursed inwardly.  
Damn it. Looks like I'm going to be-  
"ACHOO!"  
-sick.  
Rubbing at her nose, Kyoru shuddered when a blast of wind came at her from the outside.  
"Kinosaki, here's the shirt."  
Turning to the direction of the voice, Kyoru sighed softly in relief to see the captain. Accepting the shirt which was extended towards her, Kyoru opened her tennis bag to slip it in. Zipping her bag close, she glanced up and uttered a 'thanks' to the captain.  
Nodding in response, Shuko spoke. "No problem. Now, go home and make sure to take a warm bath once you reach home, looks like you're on the verge of falling sick. Take care."  
"Yes, buchou." Kyoru nodded.  
The captain shot a small smile and uttered a 'see you' before turning away to head back from where she come from. Watching after her, Kyoru too turned away to start her way home.  
Strolling down the dim hallway which leads to the gates, Kyoru shuddered again when a blast of wind came at her. Entering the foyer, she put down her tennis bag on a bench and zipped it opened in attempt take out her umbrella. Just when her hand touched something in her bag which felt very much like the object she was searching for, she suddenly burst out into a fit of sneezes. Body jerking to her sneezes, Kyoru cursed inwardly.  
Great. Looks like I'm sick.  
Sniffing when her sneezes died down, Kyoru slipped out a midnight blue umbrella from her bag before zipping it close. Still sniffing, she was about to pick up her bag when she suddenly felt something warm fell around her shoulders. Startled, she turned her head to identify it. Eyes widening in surprise to see a familiar golden yellow jersey on her shoulders, she snapped her head up just in time to see Niou stroll past her.  
Blinking slowly at his slow retreating back in puzzlement, Kyoru stammered. "N-Niou…?"  
The male paused and looked over his shoulder at her with an indifferent look. Eyes flicking to his jersey on her shoulder, Niou spoke nonchalantly. "Keep yourself warm with that. Just remember to return it to me tomorrow. By the way, Sanada is waiting for you at the gates."  
Before she could even say anything, Niou strolled off without a word.  
Staring after him, Kyoru raised an eyebrow at his retreating back. "Oh okay…Thanks…." She muttered to no one in particular.  
Glancing down at the jersey, she could not help but like the feel of warmth radiating from it.  
"See you, Kinosaki-san."  
Kyoru snapped her head over to the voice in surprise to see Yagyuu walk pass. "A-Aa…See ya, Yagyuu-san."  
The bespectacled male nodded back at this and quickened his pace as he walked on. Watching the fast disappearing male, Kyoru shrugged. Fingering the fabric of the jersey, she gingerly slipped her cold arms into it. Sighing contently at its warmth, Kyoru picked up her bag and headed down the same way the two males went.  
Thank you, pervert…  
With a smile as she strolled off to meet her cousin, a small fuzzy feeling of warmth bubbled within her at this thought.

Ruffling his wet hair with a blue towel, Niou strolled into his bedroom and shut the door close behind him. Opening the doors of his wardrobe, he slipped out a black tee-shirt out and shut the doors. Pulling the tee-shirt over his head, he got himself clad in it before lifting his hands to his hair to resume ruffling it with the towel.  
He was about to head to his bed when his phone rang. Reaching over to his vibrating phone on his study table, he picked it up and flipped it opened to answer it.  
"Niou Masaharu speaking."  
"Hi, Haru."  
Caught off guard by the calling of that name, he frowned at how the person at the other end daringly addressed him with it.  
"Who's this?"  
"You don't recognize my voice, Haru…? I'm Aiko." The soft female voice asked delicately with a hint of disappointment as it spoke.  
His eyes widened in recognization at this.  
A-Aiko…? He thought.  
The voice continued. "Haru, I'm now outside your house. Can you come down…?"  
Eyes widened even wider at this, Niou stepped out into his balcony and glanced out to see that what the person said was true. He could see her standing outside the gates of his house.  
"Haru…?"  
"Ri-Right…Coming down." Snapping his phone closed, he stared at the distant girl in disbelief.  
Minami Aiko, his girlfriend…no, scratch that, ex-girlfriend who he had to break up with last year because she had to migrate to Europe to attend a dance school, was now here in Japan, right outside his house. The girl, who he had tried hard to forget and finally managed to, was now just a few steps away.  
Shaking his head in bewilderment, Niou spun around and headed down to meet up with his ex-girlfriend. A mixed feeling of dread and nervousness stirred within him as he slipped out of his room.

There she was, still as beautiful like the last time he saw her. With her clad in a light pink strap knee-length dress, her loosely curled long dark brown hair adorned her pretty porcelain-looking face as it trailed down to her chest. A feeling of nostalgia came stabbed at him when his cerulean blue eyes met with those big olive eyes of hers. Her pinkish lip stretched out into a smile when he stopped in front of her.  
"Haru! I missed you!" The girl threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around his waist.  
Not moving to return the hug, his arms hung limply at his sides as he stared stonily down at the female. "Why are you here, Aiko…?"  
Stepping back when Niou did not return the hug, the said girl released him from her arms and stared in disappointment at him. "Haru…why aren't you returning the hug….?"  
"That's not important." Niou spoke bluntly.  
"I'm asking you…. Why are you here?" He asked coldly, brushing off her question.  
Aiko stared at him with widened eyes, hurt at how cold the male was being to her. Her eyelids drooping slightly, she gazed sadly at him and softly replied. "I want to be with you again…"  
Still staring stoically at her, silence was his only response to that.  
Behind his cold demeanor, Niou could feel his old feelings slowly creeping up to the surface despite how he was currently trying to stop them from doing so. He just simply could not understand why those feelings for her still exist.  
Damn it, he was so screwed.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

There was a brief moment of silence before Niou let out a heavy sigh. Folding his arms across his chest, he stared emotionlessly at the waiting girl.  
"Don't waste your time here, just go back." Niou spoke coldly, breaking the silence between them. With that, he turned away from her and coolly walked towards the gates of his house. Shaking his head with a release of a sigh, his hand pulled the gate behind him close, shutting it with a 'thud'. Niou then turned his head to look at the female over his shoulder with an unreadable look on his face.  
"Go back and don't ever come back. Forget about me," He paused for a moment. "…Minami."  
Turning away, he strolled over to the door to his house and pulled it open. Just when he was about to step into his house, a voice yelled over from the said girl.  
"Whether you like it or not, I'm going to stay like I planned to!"  
Pausing at the door, Niou narrowed his eyes in response before entering his house. Shutting the door behind him was his only reply.

Kyoru yawned, slowly making her way down the stairs. Rubbing at her eyes, her arm dropped back to her side as she reaches the bottom of the stairs. She then glanced up to meet the poker face of the waiting tall male with a weary sigh.  
"Morning, Gen-chan…" She greeted her cousin with a half-hearted wave.  
"What took you so long?" Sanada asked.  
"Well, I woke up slightly light-headed with a damn sore throat; it was such an extremely wonderful morning to start a day." Kyoru gave out an exaggerated sigh before speaking. "And so, I decided to sleep a bit more."  
A grunt was his reply before Sanada reach over and place the back of his hand on her forehead. A frown then marred his poker face.  
"You feel a little warm." He observed, letting his arm drop back to his side. "It must be yesterday's rain…"  
Shrugging with nonchalance, Kyoru assured with a grin. "Don't worry; it's just a slight fever though my throat feels a little hoarse now. Other than that, I feel fine."  
The frown on his face deepened with doubt. "Are you sure?"  
"Yesss, my dear cousin. Now will you stop frowning? Because that can seriously earn you a wrinkle, you know?" Kyoru rolled her eyes childishly at him.  
"Then let's go to school, we're wasting time." Sanada prompted, turning away to face the door of his house.  
Kyoru shook her head at his back just in time as it disappeared behind the door. Slipping her feet into her shoes, she called out to inform the rest of the family of their leaving before stepping outside to see her cousin waiting outside the gate.  
"Gen-chan! Why are we hurrying? There's still plenty of time before school starts." Kyoru asked the moment they start making their way to school.  
"I've got a teacher to meet." Sanada simply said, reaching over to the bag in Kyoru's hand and pull it towards him, causing its handle to slip out of her hand.  
"What are you doing, Gen-chan?" She asked with a questioning raised eyebrow.  
"Since you're sick, I'll carry it for you."  
Blinking at him, Kyoru nodded. "Thanks, Gen-chan!"  
A grunt was his only response before Sanada picks up his pace.

Strolling down the hallway, Kyoru glanced around to find the hallway almost empty with only few students chattering at the sides. Turning her head back to the front, she realized that there was indeed still plenty of time before school starts. Shrugging to herself, she turned towards the stairs the moment she reach it and start on it to make her way up to her classroom with a heavy sigh. Wincing as she swallowed her saliva, Kyoru cursed at her sore throat.  
This is just great. Just plain awesome…Damn it.  
She let out a sigh before glancing up to see that she has reached the second storey. Eying at the top of the stairs gratefully, Kyoru made her way with last few steps towards it. Lucky for her, her classroom's on the second storey because she's definitely not up to climb too much today.  
Walking past a few classrooms, Kyoru paused in front of the closed sliding door of her classroom before reaching out to slide it open. Her eyebrows rose up in surprise when the door slid opened to reveal not her usual empty seat that she expects to see every morning when she step into the classroom, but instead to find her usually empty seat occupied by a stranger or to be more specific, a female student.  
A new student…? She thought, watching the stranger as she continued busily clicking away on the keypad of her light pink cell phone, oblivious to Kyoru's presence. Tearing her eyes away from the stranger, Kyoru glanced around the classroom to realize that they were the only one in the room. She then turned her attention back to the busy female to see that she's still unaware of her presence.  
Oh well…Kyoru slid the door behind back close.  
Adjusting the strap of her bag, she stepped forward to start towards her seat. The stranger suddenly peered up from her phone just when she was nearing her seat, with surprise etched on her face. Staring back with a neutral look, Kyoru felt a small stab of surprise to see a rather pretty face staring back.  
Snapping her cell phone close, the female greeted her with a small smile. "Oh, hello."  
Nodding back with a brief smile, Kyoru returned her greeting. "Hey."  
There was a silence before Kyoru spoke again. "Ah…Sorry but that's my seat you're sitting in." She gestured at the desk.  
"Really..? Oops. Sorry, this seat was where I used to sit in before I left…" Kyoru watched as the female pushed herself up to stand before facing her again with an apologetic smile after she stepped away from the desk.  
"Used to sit in…?" Kyoru asked with a frown as she stepped forward to plop her bag onto her desk and turned back to the female to watch her tie up her pretty long dark brown hair up into a loose bun.  
"I used to be study here before I moved out of Japan and I was seated here based on last year's seating arrangement so that's why I sat here." The girl explained, gesturing at her desk. Olive eyes of hers then flicked back up to meet Kyoru before she spoke again." I've never seen you before…So what's your name?" Her pinkish lip stretched out into a smile.  
"Kinosaki Kyoru."  
"My name's Minami Aiko. You can call me Aiko, Kinosaki-san."  
"Sure, I shall call you 'Aiko' then." Kyoru nodded. "So, Aiko…" She spoke. "Why did you leave school at the first place...?" Tilting her head slightly at the said girl, she frowned with curiosity.  
Kyoru watched the girl move to lean against the desk beside hers. Aiko then looked up at her with arms folded across her chest. "I went over to Europe to attend a dance academy to pursue ballet. And sadly for that, I had to break up with my boyfriend." Kyoru raised an eyebrow at that. The girl then sighed before she spoke again. "Now I'm back to complete school and to get back with him."  
Eying the girl thoughtfully, Kyoru who was about to open her mouth to ask, was then interrupted before she could even get anything out when the door suddenly slid opened.

Niou reached out to pull open the classroom's door to only to have a smirk appearing instantly on his face the moment his eyes landed on a familiar red-haired girl when the door slid opened. Eyes fixed on the female who glanced over at him in surprise; he failed to notice the other person.  
"Morning, babe." Niou called over with a sloppy wave.  
"Babe…?"  
He snapped his head over in surprise to the other person when a voice of disbelief came from there instead of Kyoru. A feeling of heavy dread came instantly onto him the moment his eyes landed on the source of the voice. What is she doing here?  
Staring at the person with widened eyes, he muttered to himself in bewilderment. "Minami Aiko…?"

Her eyes narrowed instantly upon hearing her ex-boyfriend calling the Kinosaki girl, 'babe'. Snapping her head over to Kyoru with a hard stare, she asked in disbelief. "Is he your boyfriend?"  
The girl turned her head to her and shook her head vigorously at her. "No, he's not. He always addresses me by that stupid…ah…name."  
Before Aiko could say anything, the girl turned back to her ex-boyfriend with an accusing glare. "See...How many freaking times much I tell you not to call me that, you pervert! Now, people are misunderstanding!"  
The Kinosaki girl turned back to her with an annoyed look. "Ignore him. As I was going to ask-"  
"No, I can't ignore him." Aiko said bluntly, interrupting Kyoru.  
"Huh…? What?" Kyoru blinked in puzzlement at her.  
Sighing heavily, Aiko glanced over at the said male before turning back to Kyoru. "I said I can't ignore him."  
Then there was silence before Kyoru broke it to ask in bewilderment. "Ah…Why?"  
Aiko stared at the girl with an unreadable look on her face. "Because he's the boyfriend I was talking about."  
Kyoru widened her eyes at this.  
"What...!"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen  
An unnerving silence hung between them.  
Niou didn't know why the moment those words left Aiko's mouth, his mind instantly went fuzzy. All he could do was freeze at the very spot and stare at the two females with a blank look.  
An unsettling feeling piqued within Kyoru upon hearing Aiko's words and she certainly did not like them. Brushing the nagging feeling away, she then glanced over at Niou and back to the girl before nodding her head thoughtfully to herself. Kyoru then turned away and stalked past desks to the back of the room.  
"Kinosaki-san…?" Aiko's questioning voice sounded from behind as she paused at the back door.  
With her hand gripping on the door's handle, Kyoru turned back. "Talk it out, you two. And, Aiko, don't worry about me, no way I'll be interested in him," She jutted her chin at Niou who looked like he was about to protest and gave him a 'shut up' look before glancing back to Aiko. "Seriously, just get back together already."  
The door slid opened before it slid back close. And she was gone.  
A 'whooshing' sound to her left had Aiko snapped her head to that direction to only be greeted by a sole 'thud' as the door slid back into place, having the view of the hallway to disappear from sight. Just like Niou.  
A pained look marred her face as she continued to stare at the door unblinkingly. Flicking a glance at the other door where Kyoru exited from, a sigh escaped from her lips.  
Thanks, Kinosaki-san.  
Sliding her bag off the desk in front of her, she slid it onto her shoulder.  
Guess I'll come back later.  
With the pained look still on her face, Aiko took slow steps towards the door.

Every sound around her just seem so loud to her ears especially the dull droning of the teacher at the front, an annoying loud buzz was only what her brain could process from the teacher's droning. The flipping sound of pages was enough to make her wince.  
The pressure put against her chin was uncomfortable but was the only way she could rest her lead-like head on her desk and at the same time, pay attention to the lesson.  
Scratch that.  
Try to pay attention. No matter how hard she tried doing so, it was really hard trying to with a nasty pounding in her head and freaking hell tormenting sore throat. Her condition had become worse after lunchtime. Keiya and Yuna kept pestering her to rest at the infirmary during lunchtime but she just brushed them off every each time with a stupid stubborn 'I'm fine'. Now, how she wish she went to the infirmary.  
Cursing weakly under her breath, she forced herself to sit up with both arms pushing against her desk.  
Screw this.  
Supporting her heavy head with a hand, Kyoru flicked her eyes up to the clock and instantly sighed in relief to see it's only few minutes before school ends. She then let out a weak groan at a remembrance.  
Oh yeah...I have to meet Buchou later….  
Letting out another groan, she laid her head heavily back down on her desk as the teacher continued to drone on.

"No, Kyoru. Don't even think about it." Keiya was the first thing she said after gave Kyoru's club attire an overall glance. The raven-haired female eyed disapprovingly at her with crossed arms. "Go home; I'll inform your Buchou for you. Look at you; you look like you're dying."  
"She's right, Kyoru-chan!" Yuna nodded her head in agreement with cheeks puffed in disapproval.  
"C'mon. I'm just heading to the club to settle some admin stuff and after that, I'll inform Buchou about my fever, okay? And nope, I do not look like I'm dying." A heavy sigh emitted from Kyoru's lips. "You two, just head for your clubs, okay? Look at the time; you are going to be late." She prompted, nudging them towards the door.  
"Fine. You go home and rest, alright?" Keiya asked over her shoulder.  
"Yes, yes. I get it! Just go already, you two!" Kyoru gave them a push towards the door.  
After a couple of 'bye', she sighed in relief as she watched them disappear behind the door. "Finally." She plopped down on her seat tiredly.

It was horrible. Every step she took down the stairs was a painful one. Whenever her foot land on a step, a jolt of giddiness will shoot up her head.  
Frowning in discomfort, Kyoru continued her wobbly journey down the steps. She didn't know a fever could be this bad. Adjusting the strap of her tennis bag weakly, her eyes widened slightly in surprise when she felt her foot missed a step and next she found herself sprawling down the stairs.  
The moment she reached sprawled on the foot of the stairs, an excruciating pain pounded in her head. And her world went black.

Kyoru could feel herself being put down onto something soft before she felt something which was also soft fall onto her body. She could hear faint shuffling of footsteps from her left.  
Weak. That was what she's feeling now.  
Mustering some strength, her heavy eyelids pushed open slowly only to wince when her eyes was met with the glaring rays from the light above.  
"You're awake?"  
A familiar voice questioned from her left.  
She weakly turned her head towards that direction to have her eyebrows raised up slightly in surprise. "Niou….? " She croaked weakly. She glanced around with a frown. "Where am I…?"  
"The infirmary."  
She slightly nodded. "What are you doing here…?"  
As though she didn't say anything, the said male stated bluntly. "You're an idiot." Niou frowned with concern. "Why do you still go for tennis even when you're sick?"  
Kyoru got startled a little when his hand reached out and touched her forehead. "Why do you feel so cold…?" She questioned with a weak frown.  
"I'm not cold; you're the one who's warm." She could not help but squirm under his hand in discomfort at his touch.  
"Don't touch me…" Kyoru pushed away his hand weakly and stirred to face away from him before shutting her eyes tiredly.  
She could hear a sigh from behind. "Look, Kyoru. I-"  
Another male voice interrupted him.  
"Niou. Head to practice now."  
Is that Gen-chan?  
Niou's response to the voice confirmed her unspoken question. "But Sanada-"  
"Just go. I'll take it from here." The other voice ordered.  
Another sigh emitted from behind her. She could tell from the sound made by the pushing of chair that Niou had stood up and by a sound of shuffling footsteps which grew fainter and fainter told her that he have exited the room. The moment she knew it was only her cousin and her, she shifted over to face Sanada.  
"Hi, Gen-chan…" She shot him a weak smile.  
Sanada sighed heavily in response before reaching out to touch her forehead. An annoyed sigh emitted from him before she see him get up from the chair. Watching him walk over to the drawers through her half-opened heavy eyelids, they slowly dropped back shut, allowing sleep to take her back to a world of darkness.

As her long brunette hair continued fluttering in the breeze, the girl stared blankly at the on-going tennis match at the court below through an opened window. Her eyes followed the movements of one of the player in that on-going match. Every movement of his will have the silver spiky hair of his to be tousled along with it. His arms moving through the air, racket connecting expertly with the neon ball. With his body moving fluidly, he returned each ball effortlessly. Overwhelming charisma was leaking from him. Every powerful swing sent his fan girls who were gathered around that court squealing.  
All these things she noticed about him were the things which drew her to him and made her fall in love the very first time her eyes laid upon him before they were together. She realized that she had missed him. A lot.  
"Sanada-buchou! ~"  
A loud child-like voice yelled across the area below. Aiko flicked her eyes over to the voice to watch a seaweed-like haired male skip over to a taller male who entered the area directly below her, from the ground level of the school building. The shorter male was 'Akaya Kirihara' and the taller one was 'Sanada Genichiroh' from what she could remember, Niou had introduced them to her before.  
"How's Kinosaki-senpai?"  
Akaya's loud questioning voice had her eyebrows furrowing in response. A vivid memory of earlier played in her head at the mention of her name.  
-Flashback-  
Aiko stalked through the hallway, frowning in annoyance at the retreating back of her ex-boyfriend. It was frustrating, she have been calling out to him for the fifth time and continuing to go down the hallway was all he did. He was plainly ignoring her.  
Growing more annoyed, she ran forward and stopped in front of him with an angry glare, forcing Niou to an abrupt stop.  
"Didn't I say stop, Niou Masaharu?" Aiko gritted her teeth in annoyance and anger.  
Incredulity etched on his handsome face. An eyebrow rose up at her words. He scoffed. "And why must I do that for you…?"  
"We-Well, be-because" Aiko stuttered, trying to squeeze out an answer for that unexpected question. Shaking her head upon hearing her own stuttering, she took a deep breath and looked Niou straight in the eyes. "Because we need another chance."  
"You mean, YOU need another chance?" He shot back mockingly.  
She gaped in shock at his words but quickly recovered. "Fine, I'm the one who need it. Haru, I am really sorry, okay? I-"  
The male eyed her thoughtlessly, a blank look plastered on his face.  
He suddenly cried out in bewilderment, cutting her off.  
"KYORU-!"  
His eyes widened in shock at something behind.  
"Haru?" Aiko frowned in puzzlement at him before turning her head to look behind her to see a lump on the floor in front of the stairs. There laid a seems-to-be unconscious red-haired female who took her a minute to recognize, Kinosaki Kyoru was her.  
A sudden breeze past her had her eyes flicking over to see Niou dashing up ahead towards the unconscious girl. Taking hesitant steps, she too followed Niou to the girl.  
Aiko watched Niou inspect the scratches on her legs.  
"She must have fainted going down the stairs." Aiko could hear him comment under his breath as he observed her arms with a concerned frown. Her heart felt like it was going to break from the stabs of pain she felt as she continued to watch the scene with a pained look. She could feel a nagging bitterness piqued within her. Annoyance, anger and jealously was how she would describe that bitterness.  
"How is she…?" Aiko started hesitantly as she watched Niou scoop the girl up in bridal-style into his arms with ease.  
A shake of his head was all she had as a response before he took off in another direction with the unconscious girl in his arms.  
The lone girl left behind in the hallway stood unmoving with a look of sadness and pain shone in her eyes as she watched his retreating back grew smaller and smaller.  
"Haru…."  
A single teardrop slid down her cheek.  
-End of flashback-

Fingers curling up into tight fists, she took in every movement of that man as he continued moving around the court fluidly, with a frown. Taking a deep breath, she slowly turned away from the window and started down the hallway.  
Sadness was then slowly replaced by fierce determination as she strolled down the hallway.  
Sorry, Kinosaki-san. I have really, really grown to like you a lot, but I'm going to go all out to get back to the way me and Haru was used to be, because he's my first love….  
She gave a glance through the windows at the on-going match outside before turning her head back to the front to start her way down the stairs.  
And hopefully, be my last as well.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen  
Kyoru  
Why do I feel like a really annoying third wheel? I was just an innocent new girl attending school at Rikkaidai, and to go through an ordinary middle school life here was what I intend to do. Being a thorn in someone else's love life is definitely NOT what I call ordinary. How the hell did things end up like that? Honestly, this is so annoying.  
I still could remember that look Aiko gave me when she just has to witness me returning Niou his jersey in earlier morning. Such a superb timing. And all of the intelligent things I can say, I blurt out something that made me feel like knocking myself unconscious with the nearest wall I can find.  
With a stupid grin, out comes the crap. "Oh ho, Aiko! He dropped his jersey so I have to pick it up for him!" That was pretty dumb, huh. A dumbfounded look from Niou and a weird look from Aiko was what I got as responses to that bullshit.  
I just don't know why my brain like to keep reminding me about that earlier incident.  
Give me a FREAKING break, brain! I slammed my hand down on my desk in frustration.  
"Kinosaki-san!" An annoyed-sounding deep voice had me shooting upright in my seat. I glanced up to see my Mathematics teacher shooting me a glare. "Is slamming that desk necessary?" He growled in annoyance. A few heads of her half-dead classmates perked up at his sudden outburst.  
Throwing him an apologetic look, I shot him a grin. "Sorry, there was a bug..."  
He threw me a look of feigned delight. "Wonderful, even a bug wants to attend my lesson!" He said jokingly. A male at the front shot back at that with a haughty look. "Sir, I say it will most probably die from boredom very soon." I along with the class broke out into laughter at that. Still laughing, I glanced approvingly over at the male.  
The teacher only shot an unimpressed eyebrow at the male, clearly not amused. "And I'm sure that I'll probably die when I see your results. We wouldn't want that to happen, don't we? Now, let's get back to lesson." He said, flicking the pages of the book in his hand.  
Grumbles arose at that before my classmates around me fell into silence again. I watched on as my teacher drone on about the maths formula on the board, it was sure boring as hell. I stifled a yawn.

The week was soon coming to an end. Thank god for that, I am definitely looking forward to the peaceful weekends ahead. A break from everything annoying and hectic in school, especially from Niou Masaharu, was what I really need. That idiot has been pestering me for a goddamn date. However, no matter how many NOs, they just seemed to bounce off his moronic head every time he asked- Scratch that- I meant DEMAND for one.  
"Here he comes." Keiya said dryly to me, gesturing at the corridor ahead of us.  
I heard a soft gasp from Yuna. "Niou-kun!"  
"Huh...?" I glanced at her with a frown before turning back to the front, just in time to dodge a group of passing boys which cut into our path. Scowling in annoyance, I leered at them until they disappeared into a corner before snapping my head to the direction she was gesturing at.  
I groaned when my eyes landed on the indicated person further down the same corridor we are walking along. There was Niou leaning against the wall with an I-know-I'm-sexy look, watching girls ogled at him as they passed.  
"Tch." I eyed disdainfully at him. Seriously, how egoistic can he get? From what I can see, his ego is probably on par with Keigo's or even can send Keigo running for his money.  
I wonder what Aiko sees in him...!  
Glancing around my surrounding, I noted how crowded the corridor was. Turning my attention back to the male ahead, an idea worked its way out of the brilliant and sadistic brain of mine. Perfect.  
With a smirk stretching across my face, I stalked forward, weaving through the crowded corridor towards him.  
[PoV: Normal]

The smirk on her face fell into a poker face as Kyoru stalked her way towards the male. A mischievous gleam flashed across her eyes as they fixated on him.  
"NO." She hissed intolerably the moment she stopped in front of him.  
Niou straightened up with a bored look. "C'mon. It's just a date." He drawled matter-of-factly.  
She glowered at him. "Why. Should. I."  
"Because I say so." Niou bluntly replied with an amused raised eyebrow.  
That was it, her last straw. Now, here comes her brilliant plan. Making sure that around the corridor was still bustled with students, she went into action.  
The male who was expecting a response, jumped when a dramatic loud gasp abruptly emitted from her. Niou tilted his head at her in puzzlement and was about to question when Kyoru cut him off.  
"WHAT?"  
She smirked inwardly when she noticed how her exasperated exclaim managed to have so many heads turning towards them. Seeing that she partly succeeded in her plan, she continued with an equally exasperated tone. "DID YOU JUST SAY YOU'RE GAY? IS THAT TRUE?" Grasping his broad shoulder with a hand, she shook the stunned male with a look of feigned disbelief.  
More heads turned toward them at that. The noise level in the corridor just seemed to drop straight to silence the moment those words flew out of her mouth.  
A mere 'Huh...?' was the only thing Niou said as he blinked dumbfounded at her. Kyoru was going to burst out laughing any moment at the priceless dumbfounded look on his face. It was epic, really epic.  
Holding the bubbling amusement within her down, she continued her awesome acting. With the male still staring stunned at her, she patted her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Niou. There's nothing wrong with being a gay. I'm fine with that; I'll always be there with you when you need someone to talk to, my friend." She gave him an assuring look. "Don't worry."  
Nodding at him, she spun away from him and strolled her way back to her friends, leaving Niou to watch her retreating back with the same priceless dumbfounded look that stayed on his face.  
Fully aware of the eyes on both of them, Kyoru strolled back to join her female companions. A sheepish smile grew across her face when she saw that they were staring at her with the same stunned look as everyone else in the area, except theirs were much more amusing. Gaping at her with stunned looks made her want to burst out into laughter right at the spot even more.  
Linking her arms with theirs, she tugged them along with her, away to a place where she can finally release the growing laughter within her.

Hugging a basket of tennis balls to her chest, Kyoru who was making her way towards the Girls' tennis area, paused to watch the on-going tennis match that caught her interest. Walking closer to the court, she watched the match with awe. Yukimura Seiichi and Yanagi Renji was who she instantly recognized.  
Every shot and return from an end of the court to another was simply breathtaking. The match before her has clearly showed her the beauty of this very sport. Agility and grace was what she could see in the match as their bodies moved fluidly and their waists twisted and bend with professional efficiency as they returned each ball. A sound of 'thwack's rhythmically came after each contact between the neon ball and their rackets, time to time, drifting into her ears. It was like music to her.  
Captivated by the on-going match, she scowled in annoyance when a drawl from somewhere behind her broke the pleasant sound of constant 'thwack's from the court.  
"Kyoru."  
Frowning at it, she brushed it off, knowing it that it's probably Niou pestering her. Again. God, don't he ever know when to QUIT?  
"Kyoru." There was the drawl again.  
Tearing her eyes away from the match, she snarled in annoyance at the speaker. "What the hell do you want, Niou-"  
She stopped in mid-sentence, her eyes widened at the person in disbelief before her.  
Impossible. She couldn't believe her eyes.  
"What the..."  
Amazement shone in her eyes as she continued gaping at the speaker.  
"Oshitari?"  
An amused smirk merely crept across the said bespectacled genius's face at that.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen  
Kyoru  
Tennis balls scattered in different directions the moment the basket hit the floor.  
With eyebrows shooting up in surprise, Oshitari stumbled back a little from the impact as my body collide into his with my arms wrapping around his torso into a hug; an action which caught me in surprise too.  
Well, can't blame me for being so reckless, the sight of Oshitari just simply reminds me of everything I miss so much in Tokyo.  
After all the craziness I've been through here in Rikkaidai, yearning for a normal life with no annoying perverts demanding for a date and without needing poor Kinosaki Kyoru, me, to be caught up in a complicated relationship in the package of 'normal', was understandable.  
"Oh my god! What on earth are you doing here?" I could not resist squealing. God, this showed how much I missed home.  
His chest rumbled under my head as Oshitari spoke. "Missed me?" An amused drawl drifted into my ears as I felt something warm patted fondly on my back. Pushing myself away from him, I shot him a smile. "Of course! You and everyone back at home!"  
Throwing a glance behind him, my smile faltered. My eyebrows furrowed into a frown. "Where's Keigo…?"  
"Settling some things at the office…"Oshitari said, waving a hand dismissively. "So, how is it here…?" His arm slid itself across my shoulders. "Feel the need to transfer back to Hyotei…?" His lips smirked playfully at me.  
Wow, tempting. But transferring out just because of those petty things, no. It will be so lame of me if I do that.  
"It's good here."  
That was so a lie.  
"So you got yourself into tennis again…"He observed, repeatedly giving me head-to-toes glances. Feeling a little self-conscious under his gaze, I tugged at my shirt in discomfort, knowing that it was pretty body-hugging. "Yeah…"  
"Wait." My eyes then alighted in realization. "That reminds me, where are the tennis balls…?" I scrambled over to pick up the balls that moment my eyes caught them scattered on the ground behind me. A chuckle followed after me as Oshitari joined to help.  
Straightening up when the balls were back into their basket, I uttered a 'thanks' to my bespectacled companion.  
Then I realized something- wait, no- heard something.  
Gushing to my left, gushing to my right.  
I noted how people or should I say, girls, glancing at our direction. With dreamy looks on their faces, I must add.  
A mere 'Oh' escaped from my mouth when I figure out that it was Oshitari they were fixated on. "My, my...Oshitari, looks like you have turned some brains around here into mush, well done." I shot him a smirk before picking up the basket of tennis balls at my feet.  
My companion glanced around with cool nonchalance upon hearing that before turning back with an amused smirk on his handsome face.  
"And I'm proud of that." He chuckled, throwing me a wink.  
I cocked an eyebrow, looking at him dryly. "Whoa, seriously. Why the hell did you just wink at me…?"  
Another chuckle was his reply behind he turned away from me to something behind him.  
Blinking once, then twice at his back, I reached out to tug at his arm. "Hey Oshitari. Now that I think about it, you still haven't tell me why you're here. So-"  
"Atobe."  
"Huh…?"

[PoV: Normal]

"Atobe." Yuushi drawled in that sexy Kansai accent of his.  
"Huh….?" Her eyes instantly widened in surprise at the name that flew out of his mouth.  
Glancing past Yuushi, a roll of her eyes was the first thing she did the moment they landed on the said person.  
Well, there was almighty Atobe Keigo strolling towards them through a path paved with a small crowd of gushing females which she couldn't figure where they popped up from. Strolling towards them with head held up and chest out, the aura of royalty around him was so heavy that she could smell it. The whole thing would have resembled Oscar if not for the only lack-of, a red carpet.  
Noticing how he was blatantly ignoring them as he made his regal way towards them, she scoffed at the nostalgic scene played out ahead.  
Typical Keigo. Just like how he always was back at Hyotei. No, not only Hyotei, something like this happens almost everywhere he goes. In the center of attention was where he always will be.  
Shaking her head at her incoming best friend, Kyoru broke into a run towards him, a grin stretching across her face as she do so.  
"Keigo!"  
"Yes, yes… Ore-sama is here." Atobe drawled, flicking a hand at her dismissively as he approached, still blatantly ignoring the girls. "Miss Ore-sama?" He said coolly, resting the same hand on his hip.  
"Of course, you idiot." Her arm shot up and playfully ruffled his hair, to only earn a horrified gasp from Atobe.  
Pulling the hand away from his head, he shot it a look of grimace before turning to her with an annoyed look. "Do not touch Ore-sama's precious hair." He said, releasing her arm.  
"Whatever you say, Keigo." Kyoru rolled her eyes dismissively at him.  
"You sure took long, Atobe." A drawl from behind which she immediately recognised as Yuushi's.  
"Some bothersome things to settle." Atobe drawled indifferently, checking out his manicured fingernails. "Now, where's that cousin of yours…?" He muttered, glancing past them.  
She cocked an eyebrow at him. "You mean Gen-chan…? He should be somewhere around the tennis area."  
"Right." A thoughtful glance at her and he returned to search for the said person.  
"Why are you looking for him anyway…?" Her eyebrow cocked up even higher.  
"Ore-sama needs to give an invitation."His eyes narrowed at something behind. "You're invited too." He added before brushing past them to get to what she assumed as Sanada.  
"Oh...? Her head tilted in puzzlement at the male.  
Watching with Yuushi as he started his way towards Sanada, her eyes widened slightly when Atobe suddenly stopped in his tracks and glanced back at her. "Oh and Kyoru, be grateful that Ore-sama is inviting you." He drawled with a flip of his hair.  
Her jaw unhinged itself at that.  
About to tell him off, her mouth closed back with an annoyed frown when she sees him on his way again. "What a pompous ass..." She grumbled through gritted teeth, glaring heatedly at his retreating back.  
Oh ho...You're SO gonna get it from me when I see you again. Her eyes narrowed darkly at the tiny figure ahead.  
A chuckle beside her had her turning to its owner.  
Still fuming at Atobe, her eyebrows stayed furrowed as she glanced up at Yuushi. "What's that ass talking about? Invite me to what?" She asked irritably.  
Yuushi shrugged indifferently. "Just a three-days tennis exchange at his mansion that will start on this Friday. "  
"So that's why you two are here? To invite Rikkai?" She asked.  
"Seigaku's invited too." He drawled, stifling a yawn.  
"Shit." The male turned to her with a perfectly arched eyebrow at her cuss. "What is it…?"  
"I need to get the balls to the girls." Kyoru said, brushing past him to get the basket she abandoned earlier. "Stay put, I'll be back!" She yelled over at him before disappearing into a corner.  
An amused chuckle at the direction she ran off to, Yuushi glanced up at the sky overhead with a smirk.

Kyoru  
With a tug of arm at my unsuspecting self the moment I stopped in front of Oshitari, I stumbled a little when the towering male abruptly pulled me into him, slipping an arm affectionately around my shoulders while doing so. Still surprised by that sudden action, I didn't even realize that we have started walking.  
It was hard to not notice the feeling of his chest against my arm; a chiseled one was what my skin could feel through the fabric of his uniform. I couldn't help but was amazed at how tennis can build such a masterpiece.  
Whoa. Whoa. Whoaaa.  
I froze. Where the heck did that come from?  
Utterly ashamed of myself, I shook my head in bewilderment, feeling like a pervert.  
Then a sexy chuckle had me snapping out of my inner turmoil.  
Wait. A. Minute. A sexy chuckle…?  
"What?" I said, blinking stupidly at him.  
He chuckled again and leaned in towards me. "Sexy chuckle…? What about a sexy chuckle?" His eyebrows raised suggestively at me.  
"H-huh?" I stammered, growing rigid.  
Did I...  
I could feel heat creeping up my face, feeling uncomfortable under his intense stare.  
Dear god. Why of all the things I can say, I just had to say that out loud. A mental face-palm at my carelessness, I huffed. "Nothing."  
A side of his mouth quirked up at me in amusement. "Really…?" He studied me skeptically.  
"Yes….!" I nudged him a bit, shooting him a deadpanned look.  
Rolling my eyes dismissively at him, I grinned slyly. "So…" I started. "Any new photos of your lovely captain to share, partner?"  
A smirk threw at me as the side of his mouth quirked even more, a glint of mischief in his eyes flashed at me. "Plenty of them."  
"Good, there's plenty over here too. " I smirked as a flash of the earlier encounter with my pompous ass of a best friend, namely, Atobe Keigo, erupted from my mind."Let's share them, shall we...?" Our eyes met with a similar mischievous glint and simultaneously, we broke out into chuckles.  
However, the moment with my partner-in-crime was a short-lived one when a drawl cut in out of nowhere.  
"Well, well… What's Hyotei doing here?"  
Tearing my eyes away in surprise from Oshitari who did the same, they widened instantaneously when they landed on its source.  
"Niou…?"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen  
"Niou-kun. "  
Yuushi greeted with a curt nod but was only to subsequently raise his eyebrow when there was no reply from the said male who had- he noticed-his eyes on Kyoru the whole time.  
His eyebrows shot up even higher at the look on the male's face. He looked… annoyed.  
"You know him…?" The male jutted his chin at him.  
Adjusting the spectacle on his nose, Yuushi watched with growing amusement, nodding knowingly to himself.  
A long stare at him, Kyoru finally spoke. "No. Just felt a sudden urge to talk to a random stranger, that's all." She stated monotonously.  
"You know what I meant."  
She sighed. "Well, duh. I was from Hyotei, wasn't I…?"  
Niou's eyes widened in surprise. "You were…?"  
"You didn't know…? " Kyoru raised an eyebrow, shooting him an incredulous look. "Seriously…? Where were you when I was introducing myself-"She paused, coming to a realization. "Oh." An eyebrow raised up at him." You weren't there." She said dryly.  
"Oh well, whatever." She shrugged. "What is it that you want now, Niou…?" Kyoru asked, narrowing her eyes at him.  
As if she didn't ask that question, the male asked irritably. "Why are you with him? Shouldn't you be practicing tennis right now?"  
Her jaws unhinged itself at that.  
Her eyebrows slowly furrowed into heated glare. "Well, I would love to! Sadly, my captain refused to let me do so because I just got better. And damn it, Niou Masaharu, what I do or who I hang out with is not of your freaking business!" She snarled, glaring in annoyance at Niou.  
With jaw clenched, Niou just stared stonily at her. His eyes darted from her over to Yuushi who shot him back a raised eyebrow and a casual shrug before they went back to her.  
An unnerving silence hung between them.  
"Whatever."  
Kyoru watched the male stalked passed them, brushing past her as he went on his way. Gaping at his retreating back with a look of bewilderment, she turned to silent Yuushi. "God, what's his problem?" She asked intolerably, fuming at Niou.  
A shrug was Yuushi's mere response.  
A sigh at that, she shook her head. "Ahh…Forget about him." She said, throwing up her hands exasperatedly.  
"You two…" Kyoru turned to Yuushi with a questioning look only to see him looking at her expectantly.  
"We're not, just classmates." She stated dryly.  
"Oh….Doesn't he seemed a little bit too possessive for a classmate?" He mused.  
"He's just being annoying, that's all." She shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway, let's just go find Keigo, Oshitari." Kyoru said, pulling Yuushi along with her as she started forward.

A brilliant idea popped out at the sight of her best friend's back.  
No harm doing that, no harm at all…Well, maybe a little damage to his ego but all in all, it's good. And since it has been long ever since she has done something like that to him, she should do it.  
Kyoru nodded to herself with a smirk, watching as him and her cousin converse. "Oshitari." She turned to Yuushi. "Do you have that photo of Keigo I gave you, with you…?"  
An amused look at her was all before he reached into his pocket to slide out his wallet.  
"Here." Sliding out a piece of white card, he passed it over. "Why do you need that for?" Yuushi asked with that amused look still plastered on his face.  
"You'll see."  
His eyebrow shot up at the devilish smirk she shot at him. She's up to not good again, he noted, returning a smirk. "Sure, I'll see…"  
A chuckle as he watched her approached the unsuspecting two; Yuushi shook his head amusingly at her retreating back.

"Ore-sama will-"  
An arm that came from behind him, sliding across to reach over to his other shoulder to rest its hand, had Atobe stopping in midst-sentence.  
"Kyoru." He identified its owner with a raised eyebrow.  
"Hi, Keigo." She greeted sweetly, turning to the other male to do the same thing. "Hi, Gen-chan."  
Atobe glanced back at her with a look of annoyance. "What is it that you want that you actually interrupted Ore-sama when he's talking?  
"Nothing~" Kyoru chirped. Her eyes then alighted with feigned realization. "Oh yeah, now I know why! Gen-chan, I want to let you see something."  
Sanada glanced at her with a questioning look. "What is it?"  
"Here! Look at this!" She said excitedly, reaching out the white card which she has clutching on in her other hand, towards him. Holding up, making sure it was only Sanada who saw it.  
Widening of his eyes at its content was Sanada's response before his hand flew up to his mouth.  
Atobe frowned in puzzlement, noticing that Sanada's trembling. With what?  
"What is that..? Hey, show Ore-sama too!"  
A fit of cough and a clear of throat from Sanada with his hand dropping back to his side, looking once again composed had Atobe growing even more curious."Ore-sama orders you show that to Ore-sama now!"  
"Are you sure you want to see this…?" Kyoru tilted her head at him with a mysterious smile.  
"Well, of course." He drawled with a flip of his hair. "That's what Ore-sama said."  
She shrugged with the mysterious smile widening. "Okay then. "  
He gasped in horror as his eyes widened in recognition the moment it flipped over in her hand. A photo of his eight-years old self grinning back at him with several bald patches on his head which he could vividly remember, from an attempt to cut his own hair.  
An amused smirk crept across her face at the horrified look on his face, anticipating for his next reaction.  
"KYORU!"

"That was awesome, Oshitari! Did you see his face? It was-"Kyoru burst out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, thinking back of the earlier horrified look on Atobe's face. "It was….It was….epic!" She exclaimed, finally reigned over that uncontrollable laughter.  
Yuushi broke into chuckles. "Not bad, Kyoru…Not bad."  
"Not bad? How can it be 'not bad'? It's genius!" She broke into another fit of laughter. "Aww….Poor Keigo, it must have hurt his ego." She grinned, thinking back of how the said male stalked away, snapping at Yuushi that they were leaving. "I better apologize. I feel kinda bad." Kyoru glanced over at the limousine in front, feeling a little guilty.  
Opening the door of the vehicle, she slipped into it to see Atobe with his face buried in his hands. A stab of guilt came instantly at her, feeling more guilty.  
"Sorry, Keigo. I shouldn't have done that."  
A shake of his head was it before he leaned back on the seat with a heavy sigh. "Kyoru….Why did you do that…?"  
"I was just…" The said female paused, racking her brains for words but gave up in the end. "Keigo, look at the bright side, I didn't actually told Gen-chan that the boy in the picture was you…Sorry, okay? Forgive me, will you…?" She glanced up at him pleadingly.  
A long stare at her, another sigh escaped from his lips. "Ore-sama is not that petty, forget about it."  
Shooting a smile at him, Kyoru threw him a hug. "Thanks, Keigo!"  
A pat on her back, she leaned back and glanced up at him again. "Keigo…Can I bring the Girls' Tennis team along with me to the tennis exchange…? It will be really lonely, being the only girl there…So can I?"  
"Why not?" Atobe said, glancing down at his nails. "The more the merrier." He glanced up again, flipping his hair with cool nonchalance.  
"Great! Thanks, Keigo!" She said cheerfully.  
The door opening had both of them turning their heads to see Yuushi stepping in.  
"Give this to your Buchou."  
Kyoru turned back to Atobe to see a card held between his manicured fingers. "An invitation card…?"  
"Yes."  
"Thanks." She glanced down at the card in her hand before glancing up again. "Guys, I need to go now. My Buchou might be looking for me." She said, moving towards the door. "See you guys at the exchange." Kyoru pushed opened the door and stepped out before sticking her head into the vehicle again. "Bye."  
"Bye, Kyoru."  
"See you, Kyoru."  
A smile at them, she was about to close the door but paused at a remembrance. "Oh yeah, Oshitari." Kyoru glanced into the vehicle to see the said male glancing up at her with a questioning look.  
"Yes…?"  
She winked. "Bring the cameras."


	17. Kurai's Turn to Write

So, I apologize to SavageTrickster for not going through with my promise.

Things have been really awkwardly crazy in my life (still are) but I am going to try and focus on

Kyoru's story. Hopefully I do it justice...

Anyway, I hope you all like my writing style. It's really different than SavageTrickster's.

Okay, (bends back fingers) let's do this. It's been awhile since I've written about _The Prince of Tennis_... :]

-GeishaXnoXHimitsu (Kurai-chan)

"A miracle is another name for hard work."

-Choi, Minho as Kang, Tae Joon (_To the Beautiful You_)


End file.
